The Spark in the Unknown
by IronicVeghead
Summary: Wally West is a normal guy who happens to be personally involved in strange disappearances in his hometown. Artemis Crock is the hunter that comes to solve the problem. The two come across each other and clash, but the disappearances can only be stopped if they work together. Spitfire. Supernatural AU (Not a crossover; written to be understood by non-supernatural fans also).
1. The Return

**Hello! Welcome to my new fic-child! I plan for this story to be very long when finished, so I'm excited to start posting!**

**Some things to know:**

** - I've written this to be understandable for even non-supernatural fans. Let me know if things need more clarification! **

** - I will be posting in an odd style. The story is broken up first into "Hunts" and then further into chapters. So I'll be posting chapters after I finish writing a hunt, and then once I finish the next hunt I'll start posting those chapters. **

**Supernatural Knowledge for Non-Supernatural Fans:**

** -Paranormal, supernatural, and things that go bump in the night are all real in this universe.**

** -The majority of society is still unaware of this.**

** -There are "Hunters", people that capture, kill, stop the bad things/creatures.**

** -These hunters are often working around the law and breaking it in order to find the creatures. Doing things like hiding the creatures bodies, using fake badges for access, etc.**

** -Most hunters have a sad past, as they often have lost someone to a creature before they were introduced to the truth.**

**So there we go! That should be everything! Let's get started!**

* * *

"Hey Babe," A red haired woman called out to her husband, her hands still shuffling the papers around on the hazardly covered desk in front of her.

"Yeah?" A deep voice answered from another section of the house, the delay telling the woman that he'd had to pause to swallow whatever it was he was munching on.

"You just got a message on your work phone," She informed him, a quaint smile forming as she heard him sigh all the way from the kitchen. His trudging footsteps thudded on the stairs as he made his way to the office where his wife was waiting, cell phone in hand.

The tall blonde man placed a quick kiss on the woman's forehead as he opened the device, her hand fondly latching onto his pant pocket to keep him close by.

"What's the call?" She mumbled, tilting her forehead into his side to peek at the screen.

The man's eyebrows furrowed and his posture grew rigid, "They need me to identify a strange substance from a missing persons crime scene," He mumbled, his mind wandering elsewhere as his memories collected.

The woman became pensive, "You mean like..."

"Yeah," He breathed, running a hand through his short hair, "Yeah, sounds kinda similar..."

A short silence permeated the air as the couple sunk into the memories of a tragedy past.

The man started with a short inhalation and he gripped his wife's shoulder, the phone clicking as he shut it and dropped it into his pocket, "I'll be back when I'm done, don't wait up," He said, punctuating his words with a kiss.

"You know I will," She laughed, resting her hand briefly on his cheek and sharing a smile before he turned away.

The sound of his footsteps down the hall were only momentarily disrupted by his deep baritone once more.

"Finish your homework, Kid," He teased, slapping his palm against a wooden bedroom door.

A muffled, "I'm not in high school anymore Uncle Barry!" carried from behind it.

Iris granted herself a sad smile as the front door closed behind her husband's hearty laughter, reminding her of why he was going back to work so late.

The similarity was all too much to ignore...

* * *

Wally hadn't been meaning to overhear why his Uncle was heading back to work so late in the evening. The work didn't even interest him unless the actual forensic science had started yet. It was mere happenstance that the redhead was being quiet enough to overhear his Aunt and Uncle's conversation. He was extremely lucky that he was on summer break from college.

But it was because of this that he'd stayed up late into the night, being as quiet as possible, in order to hear when his Uncle returned. Iris always stayed up waiting for him when he worked late, and without fail, Barry would talk to her about the case.

And if the same occurrence was happening again, the same one that took his parents.

He was going to hear about it.

The twenty year old sat crookedly in his bed, the comforter twisted around his toes as he hunched over his laptop in the dark, his wiry hair tousled and his green eyes squinting from the bright screen as he poured over the articles he'd painstakingly scanned in order to keep.

It had been over twelve years since it'd happened. Twelve years since the dual funeral.

A funeral with no bodies. No explanations.

And no closure.

Wally's head shot up when he heard the front door creak open, a crick forming in the muscles of his neck from having held it hunched over the computer. He swiftly closed the laptop, extinguishing the light, and slowed his breaths to be a silent as possible. With one hand rubbing at his neck and one ear trained to the sounds of the house, the redhead easily picked his Uncle's footsteps as the man walked carefully up the stairs and down the hallway.

He wanted Barry to think he was asleep, and _not_likely to be sneaking through the hall to stick his ear on the door of their bedroom.

Wally hoped that it had worked as he sidestepped on flat feet down the hall to their bedroom, keeping his breaths even and quiet. A warm light slid along the hardwood floor from underneath the bedroom door and he avoided it like a motion detector before he hunched with his ear toward the wood.

"-really think that it might be the same person?" Iris's velvety voice sounded out. Wally could hear her shifting around on the mattress.

"I don't know Babe," Barry sighed, his voice echoing against the tile from the attached bathroom, "I can't say anything for sure yet, but it's the _exact_same substance that we found back then," He spoke, exasperated.

"And no sign of...Who was it? A Mr. Wright?" Iris asked.

The blonde's voice rose in frustration, "Not a sliver! Vanished, just like-" His words cut off abruptly, "Babe, I'm sorry," He spoke softly and Wally strained to hear it, "It gets hard, keeping work and home separate on things like this. I didn't mean to be-"

"Barry _really_," Iris cut him off, and Wally could hear the smile in her voice, "It's okay, I understand," She sighed, "And we'll get through this,"

There was a muffled sound of sheets and Wally figured that they had settled into bed, he tested his feet on the floor, preparing to head back down the hall.

"Should we tell Wally?" Iris asked quietly, making the redhead freeze.

"I," Barry stuttered as he thought, "I- Maybe not yet. Not until we're sure it's the same guy,"

The redhead scuttled back to his room, deciding that he'd heard enough.

Whoever had taken his parents twelve years ago was back.

And Wally wasn't going to let them get away this time.

* * *

A blonde woman thumped her fist against the steering wheel in time to the music blasting from the car speakers, her own poorly sung rendition of the lyrics spilling from her lips.

"_We'll curse their Gods_," She sang out viciously, "_And drink up ALL their wine_!"

The car screeched as she made a quick decision to take an exit off the highway and her stereo drowned out the horn from the unlucky station wagon she'd cut off.

"_We will defeat. The other _-Oh shit! Speed bump!" The blonde cursed, laughing when the trunk rattled from the impromptu obstacle.

The outskirts of downtown Central City welcomed her with cracked pavement and it took her merely ten minutes to find a motel that suited her rather-adaptable tastes. The car clunked to a stop in front of the office and she carefully hid her semiautomatic in her leather jacket before locking the car behind her and sauntering into the foul-smelling establishment.

A young teenage boy with red ears and wide eyes opened his mouth a few times as he took in the sight of the woman with a devilish gait and a long mane of golden hair before successfully managing a "Welcome, can I get you a room?"

"Yes you can," The woman said, her eyes glinting playfully from the way he attempted to keep his eyes on her face and not her chest, he was doing a rather poor job of it. She wondered how old he was, maybe fourteen?

"Name?" He gulped, choosing to keep his eyes glued to the humming desktop behind the counter.

"Artemis," She smiled, "Artemis Crock,"

* * *

Artemis enjoyed the way her boots clunk as she walked purposefully into the Central City Crime Lab. Professionals were always giving her sour looks, both in front of her and behind her back because of her dress. Most hunters she knew dolled up in suits or 'office clothes' (as she _adoringly_called them) to step into the shoes of a government official.

But that just wasn't her style.

Artemis's style was a bit more fitted jeans, a well-worn leather jacket, and a decent belt that held a holster when she could semi-legally do so. The professional dress was always just a psychological assistance to the people you were pulling over. "A real agent would dress the part." Some might say.

Well Artemis already knew that her credibility was on the fence because of her young age, so she figured that a little brain twister couldn't hurt them. And _not _knowing how many knives she had and where she was hiding them couldn't hurt them either.

"Special Agent Doreen Wilbur," She spoke quickly, flipping her badge out for the secretary to see and holding it until the middle-aged woman nodded reluctantly, "I'd like to talk to someone about recent findings on a cold case that occurred around twelve years ago," Artemis told her, her tone insisting that she was _not _asking for permission.

"Yes I think I know what you're referring to," The woman nodded, her nails clacking on the keyboard, "You'll want to speak to our forensic scientist Barry Allen,"

Artemis tilted her head in question and she quickly added, "His office is four doors down that hallway, on the right," The blonde nodded in a silent thanks and took off, her long ponytail swinging around her hips as she turned.

Barry Allen's office was a square the width of a decent-sized desk, but the man was all smiles as she pushed the door around.

"Mr. Allen?" She asked, even though the gold plate on the door clearly stated that she'd found the right room.

"Yes come in, and you can call me Barry," He grinned, standing to greet her. Barry Allen was a bulk of a man who seemed much too proud of himself to be stuffed into a small office, but the large frames of his redheaded family quickly tipped Artemis off to the realization that he was just a very pleasant family man.

"I'm Special Agent Doreen Wilbur, I'm here to ask about a cold case that has recently been reopened,"

His smile faltered a bit and the blonde easily caught the haunted look that crossed his gaze before his composure returned, "Yeah, yeah," Barry nodded, the thumb of one hand brushing across a picture frame while his other hand gestured for her to take a seat, "I'll get the files," He said, his tone amiable and his smile returning.

Artemis nodded slowly, taking in the broken concentration of the man before her, "Are you certain yet that this is the same perpetrator?" She asked, settling into the plush red chair in front of his desk. She wondered why he had the old thing, everything else in the crime lab seemed brand new but the fabric on the armrests had been worn down to nearly the barest of threads.

"I can't make an official statement yet," The blonde man spoke, shuffling the large empty coffee cup conglomeration on his desk to slide the case files over, "But as far as I can tell, yes,"

She nodded once more and slid to the edge of the seat to pour over the crisp papers, taking special attention to the scientist's own findings, "The same substance at the crime scenes?" Artemis asked with her nose folded into the papers.

"It's a rare ionic form of Bismuth," Barry spoke up quickly, his large hand darting into her view to point out the name and element information, "Not something that is commonly found...Well, anywhere,"

"Then definitely not part of a weapon, then?" Artemis added with a hint of exasperation, drawing a low laugh out of her companion.

"No way," Barry snorted, leaning back into his chair and drawing his hand to his mouth in thought.

"Could I take a copy of these for my investigation?" The blonde asked with a smile as she carefully closed the folder.

"Sure! Sure," The scientist nodded, "Do you, uh, want the old case files to?" He questioned back, his hand already dipping into the open file cabinet.

"You read my mind!" She laughed, still trying to be as pleasant as possible, "Thank you so much," Artemis stated, the practiced phrase falling easily from her lips. The job was nothing if not half acting.

"It's no problem, you'll keep in touch as you work?" Barry tilted his head forward, a grave seriousness sneaking into his usually casual tone.

"Of course. Goodbye Mr. Allen,"

Artemis barely heard the older man's response by the time she was back in the hallway, the obtrusive sound of her heavy shoes turning heads. Or maybe it was her flippant attitude. She smirked, she'd been told before that it just oozed off of her in waves. The secretary at the front desk shot her another suspicious glance as she passed but the blonde paid her no mind, her mind focused on hopping back into her car and getting straight to the motel.

She needed to call Kaldur...

* * *

**So what do you think? I'll probably post the next chapter in the next few days! If not, it's because I'm busy and I'll post it this next weekend!**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	2. West

**Welcome to chapter 2! I'm so excited to post this, we're going to get into the fun stuff now!**

**I won't waste time chatting! Here we go!**

* * *

"Four minutes, twenty-three seconds," Wally whispered to himself as he checked his watch. The redhead was hunched over, leaning heavily on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

The crisp morning air was biting at his skin, warring with the beads of sweat that had soaked his clothes.

"Four minutes, twenty-three seconds," He spoke again in disbelief, "That shouldn't even be _possible_," He heaved, resisting the urge to fall on his back into the wood chips of the trail. He lifted his head and ran a hand through his wild red hair, looking about the forest as though perhaps someone else had witnessed his feat.

The fastest mile run time ever recorded was just over three and a half minutes.

Wally West had just run it almost a minute short of that.

"This is impossible," The redhead mumbled to himself as he jogged back towards the trail entrance where his car was parked, "I quit training _months _ago,"

And it was true. The young man had been the high school track star, best in the entire state, and possibly more had he accepted the trip to the national race. Wally had quit running competitively when he started at college, choosing instead to focus on his academics. It had been almost a year since the August when he stopped training. A whole year of only running a few times a week.

But he was still getting faster.

Wally ran his hand across his forehead to collect the sweat threatening to fall into his eyes, his leisurely jogging pace exerting more than his body appreciated.

He stopped when a sudden crack of a tree branch caught his ear.

_"I don't know if we can afford this Mary," His father's hushed voice traveled down the hall._

_"But it's science camp!" His mother retorted._

_"I want him to go too," There was a sigh._

_"What about the bathroom renovation?" Mary's tone grew hopeful, "We can put that off another year, can't we?"_

_"It's falling apart," He weakly defended, and Wally could tell that his wishes were regaining their footing._

_"I can live with it another year, Rudy," Mary spoke softly._

_"Well I-" Wally's father was cut off by a knock on the door._

The redhead stumbled to his side when his mind focused on the present, his breath short from the vivid memories. Just as vivid as they usually were in his nightmares. He suddenly remembered why he'd been pulled into the past.

The sense of fear.

The sound of something in the woods was not uncommon. Wally frowned as he attempted to spot anything unusual past the thickets and the lush branches lining the trail. He was reacting on gut instinct alone, but something felt _wrong._

_"It looks like a homeless woman?" Mary mumbled. Wally stayed hidden in his bedroom doorway, his hands clutching the edge of the doorway as he strained to hear._

_"Maybe she needs some food? We've got some to spare," Rudy spoke up._

_"Yeah, go check the cupboard," Wally's mother suggested, and he heard the click of the lock before the door opened._

Another crack in the woods. A sharp snap of wood. It was much closer.

Wally ran.

_The wheezing was the interesting thing. Only eight years old, Wally would remember it well for years to come._

_"You poor thing! Come in, come in! Would you like some tea?" Mary offered, her motherly voice growing strong, Wally figured that she must have hustled her to the couch to sit._

_She kept wheezing. Wally didn't know what she looked like but she kept wheezing. A harsh, raw noise that sounded like there was nothing but sandpaper coating her lungs. He heard his father's quick steps move from the kitchen, their sounds soon muffled by the plush carpet of the front room._

_"Here you go," He spoke kindly, the clang of the mug on a coaster ringing familiar. And it the last thing Wally heard._

_The wheezing had stopped, and his parent's warm chatter disappeared. And the little red haired, green eyed boy was still in his bedroom door, huddled against the cream trim Mary had painstakingly painted one spring._

_And he was all alone._

When Wally skid to a stop against the bed of his truck, his lungs were on fire. He gripped the edge of the rail until his knuckles turned white, trying to understand why he was so riled up.

It was probably just a deer.

_Just _a deer.

* * *

"So you can't find anything either?" Artemis grumbled as she flipped through one of the various crumbling books she loved to carry around. The dark skinned man on her laptop screen shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, perhaps if I called around-" His calm voice was cut off by the blonde's indignant snort.

"Kaldur that's sweet of you and all, but you run one of the biggest collections of supernatural literacy in the country. If you don't have anything on this, no one will," Artemis rose an eyebrow at her companion, daring him to refuse her. She smiled to herself when his posture straightened, and although his dark skin showed little change, she knew he was flushed with embarrassment.

"My bookstore surely is not one of the largest to hold such knowledge," He retorted, the digital tang from the video call doing little to hide the small stammer in his speech.

"Maybe not," Artemis mused, pulling her colorful-socked feet off of the table to grab at the yellowed paper of the original case files "But you are one of the few that actually knows that this crap is real,"

A faint ringing through the speakers told the blonde that Kaldur had a customer, "Don't worry about doing anymore research for now," She spoke quickly, knowing that her friend needed to leave, "I'll text you if I get any new leads,"

Kaldur nodded, "I understand, please be careful,"

"You know I am, Kal," Artemis laughed, pressing the end key with a flick of her hand.

The faint hum of the street was the only noise as she worked, her thin fingers flipping through the pages with practiced ease.

"There were five victims total the last time this happened," She mused to herself, taking notes on a weathered notebook, "But only one so far now,"

Artemis frowned as she caught one of the most common aspects of a case that she found.

"There was one witness, an eight year old Wally West. His statement has been disregarded due to childlike inaccuracies," She threw her head back with a moan, "Of _course_it has,"

Artemis tossed the papers to the back of the desk and pulled her laptop closer, "Let's hope the therapists haven't totally destroyed my evidence," She grumbled, "Wally West..."

* * *

Wally scuffed his running shoes along the curb as he made his way to the restaurant. He was _not _excited to talk to another cop, to have them say that he must have been hallucinating, or dreaming.

Although finding the culprit on his own hadn't been working out either. He supposed there must have been a reason that the police hadn't found them after twelve years.

The cop that called him, some Doreen Wilbur, had been persistent over the phone. She _really _wanted to talk to him. She had even offered to buy him a meal if he'd talk to her.

And well, Wally never turned down free food.

He walked into the brunch establishment with a wary attitude, his green eyes scoping out the crowd for some stiff in a suit and an unpleasant demeanor. Although he couldn't resist making a double take on some hot blonde lounging in a booth to herself.

"Can I help you?" A chipper girl in an apron asked, and Wally realized that he was standing in front of the hostesses podium.

"Oh, uh," He stammered, frowning when there wasn't anyone fitting his internal description of the cop in the restaurant, "I'm here to meet a Doreen Wilbur?" Wally bit his lip, wondering if maybe he'd gotten stood up by a cop.

"Yes, she mentioned you would be coming," The hostess smiled, grabbing a menu and gesturing cheerily for the redhead to follow her.

"Uh, Okay," His eyebrows raised and he stuffed his hands into his khaki pockets, watching carefully and trying to gauge where he might be ending up.

"Here you are," The hostess smiled some more, setting the menu at the table, "Your waitress will be with you soon,"

"What?" Wally blurted out before he could stop himself, not even registering when the hostess skipped away.

"Hello to you too Wally," The lithe blonde smirked, extending her hand. The woman had on a green tank top and a dark leather jacket sitting next to her on the seat. A badge was resting on top of the coat, and it easily drew his eyes to her long legs. The dark wash jeans hugged her nicely and he would hate to admit it, but the heavy duty boots she had on were _really_ attractive.

And her _hair_. Wally was certain that he'd never seen anyone with hair that long, and it didn't make sense one bit, because her skin was of a dark orient complexion and it didn't look dyed. Wally was at a loss. This woman was young, beautiful, and certainly not old enough to have become such an important policewoman already in her lifetime.

The redhead shook her hand as he took his seat, his eyebrows furrowed, "You're not a cop,"

"Actually I'm a Special Agent," Artemis corrected him, "Doreen Wilbur, nice to meet you,"

Wally was even more certain now that something was off. She couldn't have been more than twenty five and there was no _way_that she'd worked her way up the ladder so fast. He chose to give her the benefit of the doubt for the moment; she had the badge after all.

"You're not going to believe what I have to say," Wally told her, his head tilted back and his eyes narrowed.

"I hear that a lot," Artemis's smile fell, her stature growing serious, "But as long as you aren't lying, I'll believe you,"

"Then you'll think I'm lying," Wally countered, hoping to irritate her.

The blonde pursed her lips and pulled a stray blonde hair out of her eyes, giving Wally a long stare before grabbing her green notebook out of her purse, a pen tucked securely in the wire spine. "How about you just tell me, and we'll go from there,"

Wally sat quietly for a moment, wondering what the best plan of action might be, but the look on the blonde's face told him she was serious. She really did think that she would believe him. And there wasn't much he could do to help besides giving her his memories.

"Alright," He spoke softly, settling into the booth seat and resting his upper body on his elbows, "I was eight when it happened..."

* * *

Artemis chewed on the end of her pen briefly as Wally finished up his account of his parent's disappearance. The odd collection of notes adding up to what she considered useless. Her page was filled with even more questions than answers; however her list of possible creature culprits had narrowed slightly.

But none of them fit the ticket just right. There were aspects missing.

"So what do you think?" Wally spoke up again, leaning slightly to catch a view of her notes.

Artemis covered them with her arm, her gaze snatching up his own. Wally was smart. _Too smart._

Too smart people never believed her. Too smart people thought she was off her rocker, because _obviously _they knew more than she did.

It was too bad, he was rather handsome.

The redhead was only slightly taller than herself, she reckoned, and he was built with quite a bit of lean muscle. Something the blonde had always reluctantly found herself attracted to. His hair was odd though, vibrant, wild red hair that stood out like nothing else, except maybe his apple green eyes.

And he had an adorable spray of freckles across his cheeks.

_Damn him._

"I believe you," She told him honestly.

His response was not what she was expecting.

"That nice, but I don't believe you," He stated bluntly.

Artemis frowned and set her pen down, channeling her talents at comfort. Which were, for a lack of a better word, _nonexistent_. "Wally what happened may have been strange, but I-"

"Not that," He cut her off with a wave of his hand, "I don't believe you're who you say you are," Wally glared, folding his arms for emphasis.

"And why is that?" The blonde played along, her heart beating a little faster from worry. She didn't need some punk ruining her cover when she hadn't even finished the job in this city.

"You're too young to have gained such a high title," He started up confidently, "You believed my story when no one else would, and you have the _weirdest_notes ever,"

Artemis was struck silent. Her badge meant nothing to him. He saw right through her. She bit her lip, trying to think of the most efficient way of diffusing the situation without physical threats.

Wally slapped his palms on the table and leaned forward to eye her closer, "Who _are_you?"

"I'm a friend," She hissed back, "I'm trying to catch this thing, because as you can tell," Artemis waved her arm to gesture out the window, "The police have no idea what they're dealing with,"

"And you _do_?" He whispered harshly, his eyebrows drawing together.

"Not yet," Artemis resigned, "There isn't enough to work with, not enough clues," She slumped back into the booth seat and ground her teeth, "It's certainly nothing I've come across before," She mumbled.

"Yeah because it's probably not a _werewolf_," Wally snorted, pushing his napkin around on the table.

"I could write you a whole _essay _on why it's not a werewolf," Artemis scolded him as she opened her notebook once more.

Wally suddenly looked disgusted and leaped from the booth, "So, I've told you what I know. I'm gonna go now," He announced. Artemis looked up at him with a smirk.

"Here," She chuckled, scribbling a number on a corner of her green notebook paper and tearing it free, "Call me if you remember anything else, or if something _weird_happens,"

"Sure, okay," Wally nodded absently, stuffing the paper into his pocket, "Uh, bye," He waved half heartedly before nearly scampering away to the exit.

"By the way Wally!" She called out loudly, disturbing the other patrons and catching his confused look as he paused at the door, "Boner's don't count as weird!" She shouted with a large grin.

Wally's face morphed quickly into a dirty glare and he was out of the door merely seconds later, his whole face turning as red as his hair.

Artemis sent the various open-mouthed restaurant patrons an innocent smile and reached for her soda, she couldn't resist.

For one reason or another, she figured he would call.

* * *

**Please leave a review to let me know what you think!**

**_Love,_ Veg**


	3. Iris?

**Chapter threeeeee! Here we go!**

* * *

"Would you like a bag?" The man asked, his eyes locked on the cash register.

"Huh?" Wally questioned back, whipping his head around to remember what he was doing, "Oh, Yeah, please," He mumbled, frowning as he looked around the store.

The feeling of eyes watching him had been ever present for at least a week since the trail incident. It was really messing with his attentiveness.

"Your bags, Sir," The man insisted, thrusting the items towards Wally's chest and grabbing his attention once more.

"T-Thanks," Wally responded half-heartedly, clutching his precious food purchases and heading out of the store. His green eyes scanning around for anyone that looked suspicious.

He was getting paranoid. _Everyone _looked suspicious.

The stifling air of the summer sweltered in the parking lot and Wally wished he had a free hand to rub at his neck. He hoped his ice cream didn't melt on the way home, he hoped that he _made_ it home. His paranoia was making things very difficult. Everything moved. Everything was dangerous.

Someone was following him.

He could _feel _it.

The metal of the truck door was burning hot to the touch so Wally used his t-shirt as a barrier to pull it open. He was setting the bags of treats on the passenger side seat when he heard it the first time.

The redhead froze, hoping that it was just a trick of the mind. That maybe it was just the sound of the plastic bags rustling as he'd set them down.

But then he heard it again.

"Fuck!" Wally cursed, hopping into the driver's seat and closing the door quickly behind him. He reached across the seats to lock the far door and then swiftly locked his own before swiveling around to view anyone that might have been nearby.

In a split second decision his phone was out and he was dialing.

* * *

Artemis was cleaning her gun and waiting for an internet search to finish when her phone started ringing. She checked the caller ID before answering, but it was an unknown number.

Best to be safe then.

"Hello?" She answered cautiously, moving to the edge of her seat to comfort herself from the unknown.

"Doreen! It's Wally!" The redhead's voice rang through the speaker quite loudly so she held her phone farther away from her ear. He sounded panicked so she assumed the worst.

"Wally, where are you?"

"Are you following me?!" He accused. Artemis could hear the rumble of a car engine in the background, but it was his words that set her on edge.

"No," She frowned, "But if you think someone is then you should get to me,"

"Fine," Wally relented easily, "Sounds fine. Where are you?"

Artemis gave him the motel number and address and he told her that he'd be there in moments.

With the state he was in, she didn't doubt it.

The blonde put her gun back together and waited by the door with it in hand, peeking out the window to wait for his "rusted red truck". She didn't have to wait but maybe five minutes.

Wally parked with a screech and Artemis watched with raised eyebrows as he pulled various plastic bags out of the truck with him. She opened the door of the motel room and the redhead ushered himself in with a huff.

"She's after me," He declared with finality, tossing the bags onto her bed and launching himself into a chair.

"You mean whoever got your parents?" Artemis asked, locking the door after a quick survey of the area and heading to the bed.

"Yeah, that wheezing that I told you about. I hear it whenever I'm around town. Public places, you know?" He ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up wildly.

"What's this junk?" Artemis wrinkled her nose in confusion as she peeked into Wally's stash.

"That's not junk!" He defended, leaping from the chair to shoo her away from his sweets, his adrenalin still running, "You got a freezer in here?"

She threw him a spoon and he sat down with his ice cream in one hand and the spoon in the other, digging into the frozen treat contently and finally settling down. Artemis smirked in amusement.

"So do you believe me then?" She spoke up, leaning against a wall so that she could watch his face carefully.

"No," Wally responded quickly, "But I think you know more than the cops,"

"Do you have anything new to tell me?" Artemis sighed, slinking into the chair across from him and grabbing another spoon. Wally looked terrified by the object in her hand and scooted his chair back, the pint of ice cream in his hand curled protectively toward his chest. The blonde rolled her eyes and dropped the spoon in surrender.

"Nothing new, just the stalking thing," He quipped.

"Anything would do, really," Artemis pressed, "I've never been this lost on a case before,"

Wally snorted, "_That's _comforting," He dug further into the ice cream before pausing, "How old are you anyway?" He pursed his lips, "How'd you get into this so young?"

"I'm 19," She answered, "And the rest of that isn't your business. But my name isn't Doreen," She shrugged.

The redhead swallowed a rather large scoop, "What's your real name then?"

"Artemis," The blonde spoke, proudly letting the name roll off of her tongue.

"_Artemis,_" Wally nodded, apparently satisfied.

"So are you _sure _that there isn't anything else strange around here?" She questioned.

The redhead paused thoughtfully, his eyes narrowing before he shook his head, "Nope, I'm totally normal,"

Artemis let out a loud laugh, "_Wow_, way to let that out of the bag,"

"What?" He paused with the spoon nearly at his lips.

"I was asking about the _city_," She smirked, "So what's strange about you?"

"Nothing," Wally answered quickly.

"Wally really, your life could be in danger. Just tell me," Artemis grit her teeth and leaned forward, hoping that she wouldn't have to threaten him.

"It's nothing, honest," He persisted. The blonde narrowed her eyes and stole his gaze, pressing onward, "Okay fine. I'm _fast_," Wally tossed his spoon hand into the air.

"What do you mean fast?" Artemis frowned, "Be more specific,"

"I can run really, _really _fast," His green eyes gleamed, "Faster than I should be able to,"

Artemis nodded for him to continue, her chin resting in her hand as she processed how his speed fit into the case.

"My Aunt Iris has been helping me keep track of my times and if the trend continues, I should be beating Olympic records by the end of the month," He let out a long breath of disbelief as he told her, his eyes glued to his legs.

"Wait!" Artemis exclaimed, causing Wally to lose the grip on his spoon and struggle with keeping in in his hold, "Did you say _Iris_?"

"Uh, yeah," Wally frowned, "So?" He asked, tilting his head to watch as the blonde shuffled her books across the table.

"Is that a family name?" Was her only response as she pulled the laptop to the edge of the table and began furiously clicking around.

"I think so," The redhead mumbled, "I think my great grandmother was named Iris,"

Suddenly there was a video up, "Kaldur!" Artemis breathed, her eyes shimmering with excitement, "We have a lead!"

"Who's that?" Wally asked, leaning over to get a better look.

"Hello, I am Kaldur'ahm," The man introduced himself politely, "And you are?"

"I'm-"

"That's Wally, something's trying to kill him," Artemis summarized quickly, "And I think he's related to Iris," She spoke as she rustled through a well-worn book.

"Iris, really? That is fascinating, let me see if I have something," He nodded before slipping away from the camera.

"Iris who? Who do you think I'm related to?" Wally asked, peering over the blonde's shoulder.

Artemis relented and slid the book across the table for the redhead to see, "In Greece, one of the goddesses they worshiped was the goddess Iris,"

"Wasn't she a rainbow goddess?" He frowned, glancing over the old script.

"She was a messenger goddess," Artemis corrected easily, "It was said that she was as fast as the wind," She turned to raise an eyebrow at him, "Sound familiar?"

"No way," Wally blanched, leaning back in his chair, "I'm atheist,"

"And I don't care," Artemis retorted, "I'm guessing that the name Iris goes back in your family much farther than your great grandmother,"

"Artemis," Kaldur spoke up from the computer, catching their attention, "Iris had one significant enemy, her sister, Arke,"

"You're the best Kal," Artemis grinned, "Anything in there that connects the Bismuth?"

"You're all crazy," Wally spoke up. He was promptly ignored.

"Arke was said to have iridescent wings before they were torn off by Zeus for her betrayal of the Gods," Kaldur read from a heavy book that he held in front of him.

"Bismuth is pretty iridescent," Artemis nodded, "This fits the ticket pretty well,"

"I'm leaving," Wally announced, setting the spoon down onto the table with a clink before walking swiftly towards the door.

"Wally! You can't go! There's an angry goddess after you!" Artemis snapped, standing from her chair to face him.

"Yeah!" He snapped right back at her, snatching up his bag of treats from the bed, "Well you also think I'm related to one, so I think I'll be okay!"

"Wally!"

"Goodbye Artemis!"

The door slammed behind him and Artemis was left with clenched fists and a sinking sensation in her chest. She turned around to hunch over the laptop, "Kaldur he's going to get himself killed with his ignorance!"

"Which is why _you _must kill Arke first," He smirked.

Artemis let out a sigh to release her frustration and sat back down in her chair, "Right," She said calmly, "How do I do that?"

* * *

Artemis narrowed her eyes as she watched the side entrance of the Central City Museum. Her fingers drumming against the steering wheel of her car in impatience. Breaking and entering didn't really faze the blonde any longer.

She didn't consider what she was going to do as "stealing". The plan was to return the blade once she'd finished with it.

It was "borrowing,"

"Come on, big boy," Artemis mumbled, slinking back in her seat to keep herself hidden as the curator of the museum exited, "Go home to mama. I've got work to do,"

The robust man in his crisp suit paused on the staircase down from the side down, resituating his perfectly formed fedora. Artemis rolled her eyes and began shuffling her arm around in the back seat without looking.

"C'mere girl," She smiled when her hand felt the grip of a very familiar gun. Artemis didn't _plan _to use the beauty, but she also didn't feel comfortable going anywhere without it. The curator was long gone so the blonde slipped out of her car and began confidently striding across the street to her destination.

Rule one of doing something you aren't supposed to: Don't _look _like you're guilty.

It took her all of a minute to jimmy the side door lock, and even less to reach the closest alarm box and disarm it.

By the five minute mark Artemis had picked up a spare museum map and was making her way through the exhibits to the Greek and Roman section.

"This blade better work," She huffed, stopping at every corner to dodge the security cameras. It would have been more efficient to break into the panic room, but Artemis preferred speed.

The entrance to the Greek and Roman exhibits was about as subtle as the circus and once she'd shimmied her way behind the centurion mannequins, the blade was within sight.

The blonde was thankful that the blade wasn't hidden behind glass, that alone made her job quite a bit easier. One quick snatch and she was heading back out the way she came. A dash through ancient Egypt, a sprint through the Native American display, and Artemis was bursting out the side door.

It was always a relief when the exit came and there weren't a throng of cops waiting on her.

There weren't any excuses that got you out of a red-handed robbery.

Her car welcomed her back with a healthy clunk of machinery and the stolen blade was tossed into the passenger seat.

"A blade that has been dipped in the river Styx!" Artemis announced loudly to the empty car, "Check!"

She glanced over at the short blade when she reached a stoplight, the car rumbling beneath her feet and the chill of a cracked window spilling refreshing air into the enclosure. The blade was maybe the length of her arm, made of bronze, and extremely dull. There was still some mother of pearl inlay shining, although most of it had fallen off.

Artemis really hoped that it had been dipped in the river Styx.

Without that, it was just a dull blade, nothing useful in a fight against a goddess.

Yeah, she was _really _hoping.

* * *

**Please please please leave a review! I'm starting to wonder if people are as interested as I'd thought they'd be!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	4. The End of the Beginning

**Chapter four is here! This is the last part to this hunt, but don't worry! More will be coming very soon! I've already finished the next one! (Which is another 10,000 words! So get ready!)**

**Thank you all so much for your support! I was worried there for a bit that I didn't have many people interested, but when I voiced this you all came out to let me know that you care! It really means a lot!**

* * *

It was five in the afternoon and Artemis was losing her mind.

She only had one lead on the rogue Goddess. And that lead was a _supremely _boring redhead.

"The supermarket! Again!?" The blonde groaned, banging her head against the musty old leather of her car's headrest. "How is this guy not a hundred pounds heavier?" She spoke to herself.

Artemis had been following Wally around for a few days already, and he seemed to have some sort of a routine going. Which is an absolute horrible idea when there's someone out to kill you. It was no wonder the goddess hadn't been having any trouble finding the runner.

She considered texting the poor guy creepy messages from one of her other aliases phones. It was easy to see the large bag of chicken whizzes sticking out of one of the many plastic grocery bags he was hauling back to his truck and one quick message about his choice of chips would be enough to scare him.

But he was already paranoid. She didn't need to crack his psyche.

As far as Artemis could tell, she was the only one following Wally around. However, the culprit she was looking for was a _Goddess _who had been escaping the public eye for centuries, so chances that they were better at hiding were pretty damn good.

Wally had started his truck up again and Artemis sneaked her car around the other end of the parking lot to follow his trail. She was still guessing his next destination when her phone started ringing.

It was Wally.

"What's up Speedy?" Artemis chirped into the microphone.

"My name isn't speedy," He grumbled, and the blonde withheld a chuckle.

"But it makes sense," She argued lightly.

"Well I don't like it,"

"What's got your panties in a twist?"

"Someone is following me," Wally blurted out.

"Really?" Artemis feigned innocence, "For how long now?"

"Like a day and a half as far as I can tell,"

"Not bad, Wally," Artemis smirked, "Not bad,"

"What?" He responded quickly, in a tone that she recognized as the 'What-are-you-hiding-from-me?' variation.

"I've been tailing you for _three _days," She corrected, swerving into the redhead's lane and honking her car horn to prove her point.

"Why!?" His voice rang through the speaker.

Artemis hummed to herself a little as she maneuvered her car to follow Wally's truck through a yellow light, "Stop trying to ditch me," She mumbled, raising an eyebrow when she thought she heard a small bit of laughter on his side of the conversation.

"Why are you following me?" He tried again, pulling over to the side of the road that led to his favorite hiking spot.

"I'm trying to catch the goddess that's following you," The blonde explained, parking her own car directly behind the bumper of Wally's truck, "This is the worst place to be," She hissed at him through the phone. Wally responded by hanging up so Artemis hopped out of her car as quickly as she could to follow the redhead onto the trail.

The woods were a terrible place to be when an ancient creature was after you. After all, they'd been living in nature longer than civilization had even arisen.

"Wally!" She snapped, catching up and walking alongside him, "I'm trying to save your life!"

"No offense, but I don't think you're qualified to do that," He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Why did you come here? This area is too exposed," Artemis turned around as she walked, surveying the tree line as best she could.

"Because you obviously won't leave me alone and I don't need everyone in the city to associate me with you," Their eyes clashed and Wally ran a hand through his wild red hair in frustration, "Look, you seem to really believe in this stuff. But I don't, so I'd be great if you could just leave me be,"

"Wally," Artemis spoke up, darting in front of him to meet his eyes as she spoke, "I'm not asking you to believe me. I just need you to trust me,"

The redhead's green eyes fell to the trail floor and his face morphed into a frown, "I think," He met her eyes once more, "I think, for some reason, I do trust you,"

Artemis let her shoulders relax, feeling a tad bit relieved as he continued.

"But..."

The two tensed abruptly as a sound carried across the forest, an unmistakable noise. A harsh, strangled coughing.

"It's her," Wally whispered, his hand darting out grab Artemis's own as he turned to run.

"No!" Artemis jerked her arm back from his grasp to reach into her coat, "This is why I was following you," She spoke quietly, a smile forming as she pulled the Greek blade out of its hiding place.

"Where the hell were you keeping that?!" Wally yelped, taking a few stumbling steps backward.

The wheezing sounded again, closer, and the redhead gripped Artemis's shoulders.

"Artemis, come on!"

"You need to stay here! She'll keep coming after you until she kills you-" Artemis stated roughly.

"That's promising," He muttered, although his grip loosened when he realized that she wouldn't leave with him.

"But she can't get you if I kill her first,"

"Artemis!"

"I can give you my gun if it would make you feel better," She quipped, holding her free arm out as a barrier between Wally and the sound of the goddess.

"If you have a gun, why aren't you using it?" Wally hissed into her ear, having moved up to stand closer. Artemis ignored him and refused to allow him to push her arm down, keeping him behind her.

"It won't kill her," She turned her head to answer him, pursing her lips when she found that Wally's face was closer than she had anticipated, "But this blade will,"

"So you mean you're really gon-"

Wally's words were cut off by the sudden appearance of Arke, the Goddess.

Arke moved with extreme speed, but she had no use for walking or running. Her skin was gray and shriveled, her waned powers having been unable to keep up a youthful appearance any longer. Her clothes seemed to be what remained of her regal dress from the Roman Empire, although the fabric had since become threadbare and dirtied.

"Hello Bitch," Artemis greeted her fondly, her false tone laced with venom. The dull bronze blade clenched tight in her fist.

Wally's soft, disbelieving yammering was overruled by the hoarse Greek curses that fell from the Goddess's chapped lips.

The blonde bent her knees slightly in preparation when Arke hunched and held her claw-like fingers out in warning. She understood the gesture well, if she ran and let Arke have Wally, she would be spared.

"You can't have him," Artemis snarled, narrowing her eyes and settling farther into her stance.

Arke shrieked something unintelligible and suddenly she was upon them. Artemis used her free hand to knock her sharp hands away, swinging the blade around towards her back, but Arke was too fast. The blade didn't make contact and the two were at a standstill once more.

"Wally, get back. You're in the danger zone," The blonde spoke under her breath, her sharp grey eyes locked on her opponent. She couldn't see him move, but his shoes crunched in the wood chips so she figured he'd listened.

The goddess rasped out something else, but her Greek was lost on the two. Artemis charged first, feigning an upper strike in order to get a good shot at her abdomen. Arke raised her arms to grab the blade mid-swing but when Artemis curved her swing low her arms moved just as fast as the weapon.

The blade sunk into Arke's forearm and she let out a shrill scream, her skin shriveling away from the metal as her glistening, iridescent blood seeped from the wound. The blonde pulled the blade away to get another swing while Arke held her arm close, but, once more, she wasn't faster than the goddess.

Artemis grit her teeth as Arke swiped the blade out of her hands and gripped her upper arms with a grip tight enough to bruise. The blonde tried to reach into her jacket for another weapon but found herself yelling out in pain when Arke dug her long fingers into her skin and tossed her to the side, throwing her audibly into the trunk of a tree.

She faintly heard Wally shouting her name, but her senses had become shifted and vague from the harsh treatment. Her vision came back first as her head lolled to find her charge. Wally's hair was easy to spot, the vibrant red striking against the dark green backdrop. There were two, sometimes three of him, but Artemis only registered the fact that the many redhead's were all holding the Greek blade.

Arke was rushing at him, thrashing her arms about in an attempt to dislodge the weapon from his hand. Wally was faring better than Artemis though, his inherited speed allowing him to keep up with the goddess's own power. He wasn't landing any hits with the weapon, but he wasn't taking any either.

By this point, Artemis's vision had largely returned and her coherency was better. From her position slumped against a tree, still attempting to regain her sense of balance, Artemis could see Arke's back. Sprouting from the goddess's back were the stubs of two shredded wings. Their color and glinting shine telling her that it was the source of the strange substance at the crimes.

Wally grunted when Arke got in a good hit, his muscles failing him as he dropped the blade. The goddess wasted no time in latching her fingers onto the sides of his temple. Wally yelled in pain as she began sucking his life force away.

Artemis struggled to stand up and reach him, her footing uneasy and her head throbbing from what she was sure was a concussion.

Arke's skin grew a bit flusher and Wally grasped at her, trying in vain to get her to stop.

In one, final stumble, Artemis plucked the blade from the ground and sheathed it violently between what was left of Arke's wings. The blonde clenched her eyes when the goddess screeched in pain and defeat, opening them when she felt the weight holding the blade disappear.

Arke had shriveled into smoke and smoldering metal.

Artemis blinked a few times in relief before looking up to check on Wally. He was slumped, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clenching the sides of his head.

"Wally?" She spoke up, stepping across the molten goddess to rest her hand on his shoulder.

"Gimme a sec," He grumbled.

Artemis nodded and decided to sit on the wood chips next to him, frowning and wondering how bad her concussion was. She scratched absently at her arm and the twinge of pain reminded her of the fingernail wounds Arke had left her.

Wally let out a deep breath and plopped himself down next to the blonde, his eyes locked on the remnants of Arke, "So, what she did to me," He started slowly, "Is that what happened to my parents?"

"Uh," Artemis wrinkled her nose and tried to get her brain working, "Maybe, but I wasn't gonna watch and find out,"

Wally snorted and sent her friendly glare.

"I'm gonna go sleep off my concussion," Artemis declared, rolling to her feet and turning to walk back to their cars.

"What?" The redhead exclaimed in disbelief, quickly jumping up to follow her, his own steps unsteady for a few strides.

"It was nice meeting you Wally," She waved behind her, snorting unpleasantly at the ground when her footing was off.

"I'm taking you to my house," He told her, his hand resting on her shoulder to stabilize her.

"I'm _fine_," Artemis insisted, holding her hand in front of her mouth to quell a yawn.

"You have a concussion," Wally stated.

"Yes," Artemis agreed.

"I am _not_leaving you to die in your sleep in your car," He frowned, "I owe you, just let me make sure you don't die,"

The blonde shot him a contemplative look and chewed on her lower lip, knowing that it would be better to just get away from the redhead before she made a friendship. And she _had _dealt with concussions before

But there was always a fifty fifty chance of waking up...

"_Fine_," Artemis rolled her eyes, successfully throwing her balance off and tripping sideways.

Wally scoffed at her and easily scooped her up into his arms.

"West, I don't want carried," She said, frowning because her head was swimming, "You have three heads," She continued to inform him.

"How do I treat a concussion?" He asked, carefully unlocking the passenger side of his truck and buckling the reluctant blonde in.

"You let me sleep,"

"That is the one thing I know _not _to do," He retorted, smirking when Artemis rolled her head back and let out a very audible sigh.

"I don't like you,"

"You're concussed,"

"I _still_ don't like you,"

* * *

Artemis woke up in a bedroom that she'd never seen before. The sheets were yellow and soft, the room itself was all very pale and sparse. Her memory slowly pieced itself together and soon she had a pretty good idea of where she was.

Wally's house.

Her favorite leather jacket was hanging neatly on the back of a sweet wooden chair, just waiting to be reunited with its owner.

It took her five minutes to get out of the bed and have it back on, as well as the boots that had been waiting underneath it.

She guessed that she was in some sort of guest bedroom, based on the scarce personal effects, so she slipped into the hallway as quietly as she could. Artemis hoped that she would be able to sneak out before Wally came to his senses and called the cops. That is, if he hadn't called them already.

Artemis tiptoed silently down the hallway, hoping that everyone who lived there was out at work. It seemed like the middle of the day, she didn't check a clock. There were sounds of someone working in the kitchen, however, so that hope flew out the window.

She'd made it two thirds of the way down the stairs when she was startled by the appearance of a very tall blonde man.

"Artemis, you're awake," He spoke, a smile on his face and his hands landing on his hips.

"Mr. Allen," She mumbled, her heart falling and her hair bristling. The law was aware of her.

"Artemis?" Wally's voice rang out from the kitchen. (Why was she not surprised?)

The redhead was standing next to Barry a moment later with a large grin on his face, "I'm glad you're feeling better,"

"You called the cops," She accused, throwing her shoulders back.

"I called the cops?" He frowned, tilting his head as though he'd heard wrong.

"You called the cops," Artemis repeated, turning her gaze dejectedly on the forensic scientist.

"I'm not part of this," Barry announced quickly, throwing his hands up in mock surrender and scooting away back to the kitchen.

"I didn't call the cops," Wally relaxed once more, his eyes wandering over her face and checking for signs of the concussion, "Barry is my uncle, he lives here,"

"Oh," Artemis moved her line of sight to the floor, a part of her relieved and a part of her upset that she'd mistrust the person who had obviously looked after her, "How long was I out for?" She changed the subject.

Wally gave her an easy smile that told her that he understood what she was doing, but he answered her anyway, "You've been in and out of it for about two days,"

"Two days!" She exclaimed, looking at his features for any sign of a lie. There was none, "The motel is going to take _everything_," She let out a breath through her teeth.

"Don't worry, I took care of it," Wally waved her off, "Come eat something, we've got stuff to talk about,"

Artemis was still trying to understand why the redhead would worry about her motel room when he lead her into the kitchen where Barry and a red haired woman were sitting at the table. Wally pulled out a chair and gestured for her to sit while he got something out of the fridge.

"Uh. Hi," She started awkwardly.

Barry looked at a loss for conversation so the red haired woman leaned forward and gave her a disarming smile, "Hello Artemis, we're so glad you're back on your feet again. I'm Iris, Barry's wife and Wally's aunt," She spoke kindly, and Artemis found herself nodding, "Wally explained everything to us,"

That sent off the warning lights.

"I'm not crazy," The blonde cut in quickly, her heart pounding.

Mental hospitals were a hunter's worst nightmare. It was nearly impossible to get away legally, and the staff was _damn good _at keeping patients from leaving. She'd heard the horror stories. Once you got in, you never got out.

"We know," Barry started, sensing her panic, "Wally believes you, and if _he _believes you...well then you've got our vote,"

Artemis let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and was only slightly startled when Wally's hand landed on her shoulder and a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon landed on the table in front of her, "Thanks," She breathed, excitedly digging into the meal.

"It makes sense too," Iris spoke up once more, "Once you think about it. How else would so many cultures in different places and times have the same stories?" She pointed out.

"And my running, I knew that was weird," Wally added through a mouthful of his own meal.

"There have been a lot of strange victims and unexplainable bodies found around the country, for years," Barry said, "It's a point of interest at all the forensic science conventions,"

"There is something I've been wondering though," Iris leaned her cheek on a fist, turning to Artemis, "How come Arke didn't come after me?" Her eyebrows furrowed, "After all, I'm farther up the family line than Wally,"

Artemis swallowed before answering, "I figured that out, actually," She tilted her head sideways, "Well, my friend and I did. It's the same reason that she didn't get Wally twelve years ago. She didn't know about you,"

"Didn't know?" Barry repeated, trying to understand. Artemis nodded.

"We figure that she only got her hands on an older family tree. She found Rudy on it, but both you and Wally hadn't been born yet. I'm guessing that she found Wally recently because of his last name and relation to Rudy, but it would have taken her much longer to find you because your name changed with marriage," The blonde explained easily before returning to a slice of bacon.

"And what about how she looked?" Wally blurted out, not bothering to swallow his mouthful completely before talking, "Gods are supposed to be perfect and beautiful and stuff. She looked _terrible_,"

Artemis smiled, her eyes sparkling, "That's the interesting thing about Gods, they are only as powerful as humans can make them. She was powerful and beautiful in ancient Greece and Rome because the people worshiped her. It's the same way with all the other Gods. All over the world," The blonde spread her arms out as she spoke, "The more followers a deity has, the more power they receive,"

She finished speaking and her cheeks grew flushed when she realized how passionate she'd become as she spoke. She avoided Wally's wide grin.

"I must admit, it's quite a relief to hear that there are people out there that dedicate their lives to protect the ignorant from monsters," Barry smiled, "And because I don't think you remember me saying it when you were delirious; thank you, for saving Wally's life,"

"Yes, thank you so much," Iris added, "And...We understand that you aren't on the favorable side of the law. So we just thought you should know that you're always welcome here,"

Artemis felt her throat constrict, her voice trapped. In the three years she'd been a true hunter, she'd never met a kinder family. And if she was being honest with herself, she never really had one to start with anyway.

"Thank you," She responded softly, unsure of how she could properly express her gratitude.

The warm silence was dispelled by a certain stubborn redhead sitting across from her.

"I have another question," He said seriously, leaning his elbows on the table and tilting his head back, "Will you take me with you?"

"What!?" Barry exclaimed, his shoulders thrown back as his spine straightened. Artemis's eyebrows rose in surprise, her gaze steady on Wally, testing his honesty. "What?" Barry hissed again, this time to his wife across the table from him.

"I knew he was going to do this," Iris shrugged, a smirk in place as she eyed her nephew.

"It's too dangerous," Artemis cut in, crossing her arms defiantly.

"I want to help people," Wally retorted, his face unchanging.

"You'll slow me down," She set her face into a glare.

"That's a laugh," He rolled his eyes.

"You'll get us killed,"

"We'll be watching each other's back. We'll be safer than if you were alone,"

"You should finish college,"

"I want to do this,"

"I'm not taking you,"

"Two heads are better than one,"

"Unless one of them is _dumb_,"

"I held my own against Arke,"

"Because you have goddess in your veins,"

"Exactly,"

"Don't I get a say in this!?" Barry cut in loudly.

"No," Iris answered him quickly, "Wally's old enough to make his own decisions," The ever present smile was still in place and the red haired woman reached over to pat her husband's hand consolingly.

Barry gave her an undistinguished pout.

"So will you take me?" Wally smiled at the blonde woman.

Artemis let out a huff, "Consider it a temporary consideration," Wally let out one of his wide grins so Artemis had to continue, "If I decide that you're going to get yourself killed, or me killed, or, or _both _of us killed then I'm taking you right back here," She narrowed her eyes as she spoke, emphasizing each point with her pointer finger thumping against the tabletop.

"That sounds fair," Wally agreed.

"We leave tomorrow," Artemis told him.

"I can't wait," He grinned.

* * *

**THUS ENDS THE...(WAITFORIT)...PROLOGUE. **

**THAT RIGHT. I'VE GOT CRAPLOADS MORE PLANNED OUT ALREADY AND THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. **

**What happens next? The meat of the story. Wally and Artemis as hunting partners in crime! **

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	5. The Theatre

**Welcome to the beginning of the next hunt!**

**Notes: It's been some time since we last heard from the duo, we're going to jump right into the thick of it!**

* * *

The ratty old sports car was Wally's pick for the month, since they traded out cars on the first. A precaution of Artemis's that she'd picked up from one of her many mentors in the gig.

Artemis had to admit, he had pretty good taste.

"Demon weaknesses," She ordered as she reached over the redhead to roll down his window. The amount of food he would collect at every fast food joint they passed was astounding, and it was stinking up the car.

"Iron, holy water, devil's trap," He recited easily, leaning back to allow the blonde room and holding his French fries a little closer. She had a habit of stealing one every once and awhile, "Oh! And salt," He added.

"Good," Artemis smiled, her features falling when Wally couldn't resist blowing on her loose hair as she drew away from his side of the car, "Jerk,"

Wally just laughed, "So where are we going next, Captain?" He beamed.

"Some prissy city near the capital of Illinois, I forget the name," Artemis rummaged around the dashboard until she found the paper she was looking for, and then promptly dropped it into Wally's lap.

"Brighton," He read off of the corner of the page, "Oh, a ghost at a theatre, sounds dramatic," Wally nudged his companion.

"Hardy har har," Artemis rolled her eyes, "Quick, how do you kill a ghost?"

"Salt and burn the bones," The redhead answered excitedly.

"And?" She pressed on, doing little to hide the smile from their games, "What if there are no bones?"

"Burn whatever might be left, hair or dead skin on something they owned. Like Claire's hair brush," He pointed out, remembering the vengeful cheerleader in Colorado they'd fought two weeks before.

"God I hated her," Artemis mumbled, wrinkling her nose up before raising her voice to mimic the ghost, "_My teammates let me fall! They deserve to die_!"

"You're just mad because she flirted with me," He retorted, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"She tried to drown you in the school pool," Artemis laughed, "I hardly think that counts as flirting!"

"Naw she totally dug me," Wally jibed, popping the last few of his French fries into his mouth.

"Will you reread the article out loud? We're like fifteen minutes away," Artemis pursed her lips, "I _think_,"

"Aren't we getting a love shack first?" Wally leaned forward to squint at the passing highway signs, "Oh" He grinned, "There's a _Cozy Corner_ _Motel _here. I love those,"

"Stop calling them _love shacks_. And we are _not _getting a Jacuzzi in our room," Artemis deadpanned.

"But I bought you that swimsuit…" He whined, the corners of his lips twitching upwards.

"And I have miraculously forgiven you for whatever you did to figure out my exact size," She raised an eyebrow at him. He chuckled when the car beside them honked at her for deliberately not letting her pass into her lane.

"If you know it fits, that means you tried it on,"

"Would you read the damn article Wally!" Artemis snapped, her face flushed.

Wally laughed while nodding and plucked the article from his lap.

"Basically," He announced, "There's this fancy theatre that everyone in town loves," Wally went silent as he read the next parts, "And people that work there have started dying," Another break, "Actors and stage crew, no audience members though,"

"How are they dying?" Artemis cut in.

"Accidents, there's no evidence of foul play but because there's so many deaths no one actually believes they aren't murders," Wally paused once more, frowning as they drove right past the _Cozy Corner Motel_.

"We don't need a Jacuzzi," Artemis reiterated, "Is there anything on the history of the place?"

"No, it just talks about how tragic the deaths are," He said as they pulled into the parking lot of a _Northern Trail Inn_, "You picked this place on purpose," Wally spoke with suspicion lacing his voice.

"No Jacuzzis here," She sang.

"Fun killer,"

* * *

"Hi, I'm Special Agent Tom Hayes, this is my partner Allison Williamson," Wally greeted the theatre manager, his and Artemis's badges already on display, "We'd like to ask you and your staff a few questions about the victims, is that alright?"

The manager, a bosom-clutching theatre enthusiast, had let them into her office with a flourish of scarves and used handkerchiefs. Artemis had let Wally take the lead.

"Of course! This situation is just so _dreadful_, I will do anything you require in order to bring the culprit to justice," Her voice boomed, "Feel free to interrogate anyone you deem fit," She spoke with malice, her hair bristling with emotion.

"Alright, thank you Ma'am," Wally nodded, ushering the blonde out of the office as fast as possible. Once outside and in the backstage area, the two began breathing normally again.

"Do you think they're all going to be like that?" Artemis groaned, scanning the bustling stage with distaste.

"No," Wally reassured her, leaning close to whisper his next words, "Just the actors,"

Artemis abruptly covered her mouth to hold in her laugher, using her free hand to slap the redhead across the chest. Wally chuckled and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"So, who first?" He questioned.

"The stagehands," The blonde said decisively, ignoring Wally's smirk as she strutted over to a man working with the curtain ropes, "Hello Sir, I'm Special Agent Allison Williamson and this is my partner, Tom Hayes. Are you free to answer a few questions about the recent deaths?" She asked, flashing her badge while Wally did the same.

The man looked around uneasily, as though attempting to find a distraction, and then sighed, "Yeah, I've got some time,"

"Great, so. Where you familiar with any of the victims personally?" Wally asked, pulling out a palm sized notepad and pen.

The man nodded sadly, "Gregory, I knew Gregory real well. He was a real nice guy, never really got into any trouble. He fell asleep on the job sometimes, but it never did any harm. He was working another job down at the station in the mornings. Didn't get a lot of sleep cause of it,"

Wally scribbled on the pad as the man spoke, a grave frown etched upon his face. Artemis leaned over to check what he'd written.

He hadn't written anything. It was a very crude caricature of someone in Shakespearean dress holding a skull up.

"Thank you so much for your time," Artemis cut in, reaching a hand around to pinch Wally on his side. He flinched. "If you think of anything else that might be of interest, please contact us,"

Once the duo had walked far enough away from the stagehand Wally spoke up.

"You didn't like my drawing?" He asked.

"You're terrible," She responded, knowing by his smile that he could read her face and could tell that she was amused.

"So Gregory," The redhead flipped the notebook back a few pages, "He was killed when a light fell on him. He was asleep at the time,"

"Poetic justice," Artemis mused, "Man falls asleep on the job one too many times, eventually he doesn't wake up,"

"You're grim," Wally pointed out, guiding them in the direction of an actor digging through a pile of tossed aside props.

"I'm thinking like a ghost," She amended. Then paused, eyeing Wally's hand that had begun rubbing at his upper arm, "Don't scratch at your tattoo," Artemis chided, "If it doesn't heal correctly then the seal doesn't work,"

"I _know_," He whispered back, "It's not like I _want _a demon to possess me," He rolled his eyes, "But it itches,"

"I'll re-bandage it later, alright?" Artemis offered.

"Thanks nurse," Wally cooed. Artemis elbowed him.

"Hello Sir," The blonde spoke up as they reached the actor roughly searching for something, "I'm-"

"Yes, yes, I'm aware," He cut her off without looking, his voice tight, "Gossip spreads fast around here. What do you need to know?"

"Uh, well," Artemis blinked a few times, "We were wondering if you knew any of the victims personally,"

"Sure did," He grimaced, beginning to toss objects around in frustration, "I knew nearly all of them, it's why I can't slow down,"

The blonde noticed that Wally seemed a bit fidgety and realized that he must have wanted to join the man and help him out in his search. So she pulled on his sleeve and gave him a frown to get him to settle down.

"Why can't you slow down?" She continued on, satisfied that Wally had stopped rocking on his heels.

"If you slack off, you die," The man turned towards them briefly, his face grave, "That's what happened to the others. It's not going to happen to me,"

"What makes you say that?" She tilted her head back, hoping that they'd found a lead.

"Look, just ask the others, they'll tell you what happened. I've got to go. I've got to keep working," He huffed, turning away and stalking off.

Wally turned to Artemis with raised eyebrows, "He was friendly," The redhead declared, "But informative,"

"Yeah," She agreed, "He's probably got the right idea,"

"Split up and search for clues?" Wally suggested with a smile.

Artemis snorted inelegantly to withhold and laugh and nodded, "Meet you back at the exit in an hour,"

* * *

"So," Wally drawled, putting his feet up on his bed, "All of the victims died while they were slacking off at work, and their death usually had something to do with what they were supposed to be doing,"

Artemis drew her lips into a thin line as she searched the web for information on the theatre, "So we know what kind of person the spirit was. Nitpicky, hard worker, concerned about whether others were doing their jobs,"

"A previous owner?" Wally questioned, frowning when Artemis slapped his hand away from her stash of licorice.

"Get your own," She scolded.

"I already ate mine," He shot back, attempting to reach for the candy once more.

Artemis retaliated quickly, snatching a knife out of her belt and whipping around to hold it to his throat.

The redhead gulped and bit his lip, his eyes drifting down to the weapon at his jugular, "I failed the test, didn't I?"

She gave him a _look_, "Yes you did," The knife was swiftly put back into it's sheath, "If I had been a demon, or a vampire, or anything else that's mean; you'd be dead,"

"Yeah," Wally said dejectedly, his shoulders drooping.

Artemis curled up her nose, unhappy that the redhead suddenly looked so sullen as he began working again. So she took a strand of licorice and wielded it just as she had the knife, spinning and attempting to land a hit on his neck.

He ducked and caught it in his mouth.

"What the hell Wally!?" The blonde snapped, righting in her chair to glare at the man who had begun to slowly pull the candy into his mouth with his lips. He chewed a bit before answering, his eyes just as wide and confused as Artemis's.

"I have no idea," He shook his head.

"Do you mean to tell me that when I put a knife to your neck you can't think fast enough, but when I'm about to _hit you with candy_ you can move fast enough to catch it in your _mouth_?"

"It's instinct," Wally shrugged.

"You need to prioritize your instinct, then," Artemis spoke with raised eyebrows.

"Maybe I wasn't reactive because I'm never worried that you're going to hurt me," He suggested.

The blonde leaned back in her chair, a smug look growing on her features, "So I should start attacking you with intent to maim?"

Wally grimaced, "Maim? Why _maim_? That sounds so...painful,"

"Well I don't want you dead," Artemis clarified, turning away from him to continue searching newspaper archives.

"That might be the sweetest thing you've said to me," Wally mused, mocking a wistful sigh.

Artemis threw another strand of licorice at him, frowning when he caught it and had it in his mouth faster than he could draw a gun.

"Then again, there was that one time when I got caught by that ghoul," He grinned, "Damn you just came in _raving _mad,"

"Well you had to go and be the fucking damsel," Artemis snorted, pretending that she wasn't paying attention.

"Your cursing is like music to my ears," He sang, leaning back onto the bed, "_I SWEAR IF YOU KILLED HIM I'LL FUCKING GUT YOU BEFORE I'M FINISHED WITH YOU_," Wally quoted in a rough falsetto.

"I did _not _say that," Artemis snapped, a blush rising to her cheeks, "You had a lot of blood loss,"

"I could hear just fine," Wally grinned.

"Blood loss can give you hallucinations," The blonde retorted.

"No it doesn't!" He guffawed, crumbling up a piece of paper to toss into her lap. She flicked it away.

"You were probably concussed too," Her responses were becoming weaker.

"I'm starting to think that there isn't ever a time when we _aren't_concussed," He rolled his eyes.

Artemis let out a chuckle and leaned back in her chair to pop her back, letting out a contented sigh when she managed a satisfying crack from her movements.

"Hey Arty, can I ask you a question?" Wally leaned up on his elbows, his fingers flicking at the papers scattered around.

"You can," She shrugged, skimming another potentially useful article.

"How did you get involved in hunting?" He asked tentatively. Artemis turned abruptly, her mouth open to speak, "I know, I know. You don't like that question. But I mean," He sighed, "Who did you lose?"

Wally waited patiently as Artemis stiffened and her gaze fell to the floor, the only sound left in the motel room was the quiet whirr of the laptop. The blonde licked her lips, straining the silence.

"My whole family," She said quietly, her voice barely loud enough for the redhead to catch, "It was a demon,"

After her last word, her lips shut tight and Wally knew it was all he was going to get from her for this attempt, "I'm sorry,"

"Me too," The words were sharp and Artemis let out a harsh breath before donning her professional mask once more, "I found a potential suspect," She pointed to the screen.

"Lay it on me," He scooted to the end of the bed and peered over her shoulder.

"There was a theatre owner around fifty years ago, Cody Lutterman who lost his wife Roxy, an actress, to an accident there," She paraphrased from the article, "He committed suicide in the stage ropes two months later,"

"He certainly has enough connection to the theatre for his ghost to show up there," Wally reasoned, smirking when he was quick enough to sneak a hand around and grab another strand of licorice before Artemis could grab him.

"Yeah, and since his wife died in an accident that was likely caused by a negligent coworker, his spirit is probably try to prevent any more. By killing all of the workers who aren't doing their jobs," Artemis suggested.

"By causing accidents?" He frowned.

"Ghost logic, Wally," Artemis chuckled, "It's flawed,"

"Right," Wally nodded, "Bones?"

The blonde set into searching hacked record systems, the process only taking her a few minutes, "Cremated, same as his wife,"

"Damn," Wally pulled his hand down his face, "A cursed object in a _theatre_? It could be anything,"

"Let's just burn the whole place down," Artemis smirked, catching Wally's eye for confirmation.

"Now, Artemis. That would just be _rude_," He smiled back, "Let's burn down the town for good measure,"

A staring contest resulted, each keeping contact and trying to withhold their laughter.

Wally broke first, throwing his head back to laugh loudly. Artemis broke quickly after him, her smile stretching her face.

She thwacked him too, for good measure.

* * *

**Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	6. Cheesecake

**Thank you all so much for your continued reviews and love! Your attention is what keeps me writing!**

**So let's not waste time shall we? Let's get back to our favorite hunters!**

* * *

"So I'm Tom Hayes right?" Wally asked, checking his badge as they walked from the car to the back entrance of the theatre.

"Yes, and I'm..." Artemis trailed off, testing him.

"Allison Williamson!" He grinned, snapping his fingers.

"Good boy," She cooed, making Wally chuckle, "Got your iron?"

The redhead patted his coat where an iron wood file rested safely in an inner pocket.

"Nice, alright. What are we looking for?" Artemis continued quizzing.

"An object that either has some of his DNA on it, or something he would have been attached to," He recited.

"Awesome," She bumped elbows proudly with her pupil, "We'll split up to search the theatre. Don't let me catch you jumping into a play," Artemis chided playfully.

"Not interested," Wally scoffed.

The doors to the theatre opened with an ominous creaking noise and the two walked into a very dark backstage area.

"What's going on?" The redhead leaned over to whisper. Artemis tucked her bangs back behind her ears when his mouth accidentally moved them and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him silently to the manager's office.

"_ROMEO, Romeo, Where for art thou Romeo?" _A dramatic female voice rang out.

The two hunters paused and shared a look as best they could in the darkness and Artemis slapped a hand over Wally's mouth before he could respond to the line. His grin faded beneath her hand.

"You're no fun," He mumbled. The blonde stuck out her tongue and they ignored the rest of the lines as they headed towards where they could hear a bustle of noise.

They found the stagehands working with various props and scenery, preparing for the next scene change. Wally attempted to speak with them but the only thing they could get out of the crew was shushing gestures and a hoarse whisper of "_Dress rehearsal_,"

Artemis led them farther backstage where their voices wouldn't carry, "We shouldn't split up while everything is dark and we're playing hush puppies. It's too dangerous,"

"I agree, where should we check first?" Wally questioned as he squinted into their inky black surroundings, "Maybe we should find a flashlight,"

"Oh," Artemis's eyes opened in surprise and she began to rummage around in her jacket pockets.

"You are ridiculous," He chuckled, closing one of his eyes when the blonde turned the small light on while it was facing him.

"I'm prepared," She amended, leading the way past a fake set of armor.

"Congrats, you're a boy scout," Wally spoke up,

"Boy scouts is a breeding ground for changelings," Artemis retorted.

"That's something I could have been better off not knowing," He grimaced, placing his hand on Artemis's waist to guide her away from a wooden backdrop that looked extremely unstable, "Remember, he's causing _accidents_. Don't make it easy,"

Artemis only nodded, her light flashing around in front of them, "I'm not sure how to find anything in this mess,"

"Maybe we should leave and come back when they're not rehearsing, then we could ask about Cody. There are probably stories about him. These people love dramatic stories," Wally said, stopping their walk. Artemis stayed silent for a moment as she considered his logic.

"You're right, that would be easier," She spoke, her tone regrettable.

"Of course I am-"

"Don't push it," Artemis eyed him as they began their trek back towards the main area.

"We should stop and have an early dinner at that Italian place near the motel" Wally said, a grin forming.

The blonde hated giving into his plans too often, but she had seen an advertisement for the place next to the land phone in their room.

And it did have a picture of cheesecake.

"Alright," She responded, ignoring the fact that her companion had just fist pumped the air.

"You were totally eyeing that flyer in our room," He gushed, opening the backstage door and holding it open for her.

"And you're not getting a bite of my cheesecake," Artemis fought back, laughing at Wally's crestfallen face, "Get in the car,"

"Only because you asked so nicely," He wrinkled his nose at her.

They buckled up and were on the way over, Wally commandeering the radio with fickle choices, when a phone started ringing in the glove box.

"Will you answer that? It's a friend," Artemis glanced over, "He's the only one with the number for that phone," She explained.

"So why don't you answer it?" The redhead questioned as he pulled out the device.

"He hasn't called in a while, he deserves to be confused," She smirked.

Wally seemed to find this as an acceptable answer and pressed the answer button, "Artemis Pizza Delivery Service, can I take your order?" He spoke cheerily. Artemis snickered.

"Who is this? How do you have this phone? Where is Artemis?" A male voice rattled off quickly.

"I'm sorry sir, you said you wanted anchovies? But no one likes anchovies!" Wally lamented, giving Artemis an exaggerated look of disgust. She burst out in a full blown laugh.

"Wait, is that her in the background?" The voice asked, "Is she _laughing_?" His voice sounded as though he was in complete shock, "What did you do to her?"

"I have done nothing but feed her delicious pizza," The redhead defended, his tone of utter seriousness.

"Oh my god Wally!" Artemis shrieked, attempting to control her throaty laughs.

"Did she say _Wally_? You're Wally West?" He asked; his tone of panic lessening.

"Am I famous or something? Would you like an autograph?" The redhead suggested helpfully.

"I can't believe that Artemis is genuinely _laughing_. I've only ever gotten a few smirks out of her,"

"Well Arty here has a neutral face with a frown, so a smirk is basically the equivalent of a smile," Wally grinned.

"What are you guys talking about?" Artemis scowled, pulling none too gently into the parking lot of the Italian restaurant.

"And in that case, with the cackling you're getting out of her you should win the Nobel peace prize," The man laughed.

"I'll settle for a Jacuzzi," Wally spoke smugly, swatting away Artemis's grabby hands, "Go away Arty I'm making friends,"

"Oh, does she want to talk to me now?"

"If you don't give me the phone I'm not giving you extra money for snacks," She threatened.

Wally tossed her the phone as though the device had suddenly caught fire. Artemis chuckled and stuck it to her ear, "Hey Dick, long time no hear," She said, her voice suddenly taking on a colder edge.

"Uh, yeah. I'm sorry about that," Dick answered sheepishly, "Bruce and I got really deep into this vamp nest and we-"

"Didn't even think to call for help, did you?" She cut him off, "And I'm guessing that you aren't just calling to check up on me, are you?"

"His name is Dick?" Wally whispered.

"Look, I'm sorry you're upset, but things happened and-"

"Do you even know why I'm upset?" Artemis sighed, leaning back into the seat. Wally fiddled his thumbs impatiently next to her.

"Um, no, no not really," Dick admitted, and Artemis could hear the grimace in his voice.

"Because you only call me when you're in trouble. Never just to let me know that you're still alive, or to see if I am,"

"Yeah I..." His voice trailed off, "I kind of do that, don't I?"

Artemis opened her mouth to speak again but Dick's voice came through the speaker once more.

"I do care though, you know that," He defended, "And I do know that you're alive. Alfred and Kal chat it up all the time. I get updates on you,"

"That's just creepy, Dick," Artemis deadpanned.

"I guess it kind of is. Look, I'll try to call more often, alright?" Dick suggested.

"That would be much better," She smirked, "Now what were you actually calling about?"

"I need the current number for Zatanna," He spoke, his tone all business, "Mine's out of commission and I know that you keep up with her,"

"I might have it," Artemis hummed, "What's in it for me?"

"I thought you guys were friends," Wally said quietly, still itching to do something.

"How about you give me her number, and I don't tell Ollie that you've picked up a _male_partner,"

Wally raised his eyebrows in confusion when Artemis sat up straight and her lips drew into a thin line, having only heard half of the conversation.

"Deal," She snapped, quickly rattling off a phone number from heart, "God you're so manipulative,"

"Need me to beat him up for you?" Wally offered, awkwardly trying to find a way to lounge in the passenger seat. His long legs wouldn't allow it.

"Love you too Artemis," Dick sang.

"Goodbye Dick," She rolled her eyes before snapping the old phone shut.

"Ex-boyfriend?" Wally questioned, hopping out of the car and heading toward the restaurant entrance, his voice taking on a strange lilt that Artemis couldn't recognize.

"_Hell _no," She emphasized, her eyes growing wide, "More like annoying little brother,"

The redhead laughed and held open the door for her, receiving a glare for his actions.

The restaurant wasn't very busy so it didn't take long for the two to get a table; Artemis gave the waiter a nice glare when he tried to offer them a candlelit ambiance.

"So," Wally drawled, "Who is this Dick guy? Besides your annoying little brother," He waved his hand around in gesture.

"He's another hunter, though he and his adoptive father generally stay in one spot. Unlike me," Artemis explained simply.

"How come? Are there _that _many cases where they are that they can do that?" His features grew unnerved at the thought.

"Oh yeah, a bunch of them. They live in Gotham and the creatures swarm there like ants to a picnic," Artemis smirked when Wally's gaze continued to be caught by passing plates of pasta.

"Are there a lot of hunters?" He questioned as he began dumping a packet of sugar in his soda, "Because I thought that this wasn't a real competitive career, so how would you guys even find each other?"

Artemis pillowed her cheek in her hand as she thought, momentarily distracted when their feet bumped under the table. She withdrew hers before Wally noticed, "I don't think that there's a lot of us, but we find each other because we respond to the same events. Dick and Bruce, Bruce is his adoptive father," She explained, "They ran into me once on a case. I'd come across a siren but I couldn't find it, it was damn good at hiding,"

"So they helped you out and now you call on each other in times of need?" Wally worked it out. Artemis nodded, "Alright I've just got one more question then,"

The blonde let a small smile pass her lips from his curiosity, "Okay, shoot,"

"I know you don't like to talk about _how _you got into hunting," He held his hands up in surrender, "But how did you learn about it? I wouldn't have known anything without you, so who taught you?"

Their conversation paused when their food came and Wally quickly dug in while Artemis pushed her food around, pensive, "There was a man who taught me everything. He took me on, kind of like an apprentice, when he found me trying to hunt before I even know what hunters _where_," Her voice took on a fond tone, "Oliver taught me everything he knew about hunting, gave me all the tips he had, we were a great team,"

Wally felt a lump catch in his throat, "What happened?"

"He's not dead," She quickly added, sensing the redhead's nervousness, "But there was a problem. His son, Roy, had been caught by a shapeshifter. But no one found out about it for months,"

"I don't understand," He mumbled, his eyebrows furrowing.

"The shapeshifter kept him locked up as his source, to make sure he kept the same look. And he started going after hunters. Hunters that Roy knew, so they trusted him," Artemis told the story sadly, and Wally understood that she must have known some of the hunters lost.

"Did they find him?" Wally asked, "The real Roy?"

"Yeah," Artemis smiled a little, "Ollie found him and he and his girlfriend Dinah took care of the shapeshifter. Roy's still out and about now, hunting again. But Ollie and I grew apart when he left to find Roy. By the time it was over I'd become independent and I didn't really need Ollie looking out for me anymore," She shrugged.

Wally was silent for a moment, contemplating, "You might not have _needed _him, but it's still good to have company," He spoke decisively, "I could tell you were lonely,"

"I wasn't lonely!" Artemis bristled, jabbing her fork toward him.

"Hey!" Wally laughed, "I was lonely too!"

The blonde withdrew and her face grew unreadable, "You were lonely?"

"Yeah," The redhead nodded, shoveling another forkful of pasta into his mouth, "I was a bit of a weirdo. Loved science too much, so I wasn't popular on the track team. But I was too good at track to be totally accepted into academia,"

"If you love science, why come with me?" Artemis narrowed her eyes, "I mean, this gig isn't exactly logical,"

"Everything has logic, I just haven't figured out how everything works yet," He grinned, a gleam in his eye, "It's like, this whole new world of creatures and hunting is like how Newton discovered gravity. The laws and logic were there, we just hadn't figured out what they were yet. It's the same thing now," Wally spread his arms out, gesturing in excitement, and nearly knocked over a passing waitress.

Artemis laughed as the woman gave the redhead a questioning glance and his face grew red with embarrassment, "Well you should have said something," She smirked, Wally frowned in confusion, "Next time we catch something we can take DNA and skin samples for you to test, we're bound to stop back in Central eventually and I'm sure Barry would love to look at them with you,"

Wally's eyes grew wide and he froze in his seat, "You really mean that?"

"Sure," Artemis answered as she twirled her pasta onto her fork, "You guys might find some useful stuff we could use on the road. Chemical compounds that a creature might be reactive to, natural immune responses that we could use in testing possible subjects, all kinds of stuff," She numbered off on her fingers.

"That sounds _amazing_," Wally beamed, his grin stretching across his face, "Like, _really_, Artemis," His voice cut off and he just pointed to his smile, finding himself at a loss for words.

Artemis laughed and reached her fork across the table to sample some of his pasta while he was in a good mood, "Let's celebrate with cheesecake, West," She smiled.

"That sounds _perfect_,"

* * *

**Please leave a review to let me know what you think!**

**This chapter is actually longer than I like. I try to keep each chapter around 2000 words, but this one and the last one were around 2400. This screws up my posting schedule but I'll see what I can do. **

**Keep a look out this weekend for the next chapter!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	7. Roxy

**I'm sorry I'm a day late for posting! I usually try to post on Saturdays (if any of you have noticed!) But I was in a car literally all Saturday and couldn't get online. **

**Thank you all for your continued support! Let's get going!**

* * *

"Back we go again," Wally groaned, throwing his feet up on the dashboard, "I just _love _dramaland,"

"They have a reason to be freaked," Artemis offered, turning the heat on the front vents full blast until Wally got uncomfortable and moved his legs.

"It's not just that, they're just really crazy in general," The redhead waved his hands around, trying to emphasize. Artemis snorted and pulled none-too-gently up to the theatre.

"You used to think I was crazy," She smirked, double checking her jacket for her ghost-fighting essentials as they got out of the car.

"I still do," Wally pointed out, smirking at Artemis's scowl as they reached the door, "Shall we?" He asked with a flourishing bow.

"Don't make me hit you," She glared, pulling the door open and walking into the theatre with heavy steps.

The two grew quieter as they took in the raucous noise filling the theatre.

"We totally should have seen this coming," Wally chuckled dryly. Artemis sighed and he threw a supportive arm over her shoulder.

She allowed it for about two seconds, so Wally considered it progress from their usual shtick of zero seconds and a punch to the gut.

There was noise everywhere, pouring from in front and behind the stage as the crew and actors scattered around preparing for a show while the audience was settling in.

"We wanted to ask about stories passed down through theatre lore, to try and find the object," Artemis reminded the redhead, leaning over to make sure he heard her over the din, "So we'll start with the actors,"

"How do I even catch one of those?" Wally frowned, ducking backwards as a rolling prop crashed past.

"We'll go to the dressing rooms," She explained, leading the way through the bustle toward the glowing entrances that spewed glitter and shrieks.

"I'll take the girls room," Wally offered chivalrously.

Artemis simply slapped his arm and pushed him into the boys' dressing room. His laugher dissipating into the room along with him.

She entered the girls' dressing room with more hesitancy that she would if it was full of demons.

Creatures she could handle.

Women terrified her.

"Miss Wilbur!" One actress shrilled from her dressing table, calling her over with a wide smile the moment she saw the blonde, "Have you come to see the show?"

Artemis shuffled over as her eyes darted around the room, carefully eyeing one woman who was brandishing a glitter puff, "Actually my partner and I are looking into the history of the theatre," She began, frowning when she noticed the extreme amount of makeup all of the actresses were caking onto their faces.

The woman noticed her face and laughed good naturedly, "We're not being silly, love. We have to exaggerate the makeup because otherwise the distant audience won't even notice it,"

Artemis nodded in understanding and was about to ask about the lore of the theatre when her friendly companion shrieked and scattered across the room for her costume.

She sighed, realizing that she had no idea how to talk to these women.

* * *

"Hey Boys!" Wally announced after stumbling into the men's dressing room. He got a few eyebrows but the majority of actors were too busy to notice.

The noise wasn't nearly as loud as what the redhead could hear from the other dressing room, but he still couldn't seem to catch anyone's attention. He tried scurrying about to catch the busy men but was continuously waved off.

"I'm Special Agent Tom Hayes," Wally spoke up louder, standing in the middle of the room, "Would someone be willing to talk to me about the history of the theatre?" He asked.

"We're busy!" Someone behind a clothing rack grumbled.

The redhead grimaced as he was ignored some more.

"Hey, copper!" An older man called him over, a makeup brush in hand as he worked through the various actors. It appeared that he himself wasn't going to be on stage and Wally grinned thankfully as he jogged up to him, "Why do you need to know about the history of this old place?"

"My partner and I are just wanting to check every angle," Wally answered professionally, leaning against the wall next to the man's table where the costume makeup kit was spread about, "Do you know much about this place? Old owners or things like that?" He tried to sound casual, but he wasn't sure if it worked.

Thankfully his informant was too preoccupied to notice, "Oh yeah," He nodded while he worked on an impatient actor squirming in his chair, "There's always the story about Roxy, that always gets the newbies in a fright,"

The runner bit his lip, recognizing the name of the old manager's wife, "What about Roxy?" He kept his view on the rest of the room, trying to act normal.

"She was an actress here a long time ago, killed on stage during a prop accident," The man explained.

"Sounds terrible," Wally sympathized, pretending he'd never heard the story before.

"Yeah, we tell the newbies that she still haunts the place," He shrugged, "We blame her for things that got missing, stuff like that,"

"Yeah I bet that freaks them out," Wally agreed with a laugh, unsure of how to bring up her husband.

"That's why the girls don't know that the mirror is hers," He let out a loud hearty laugh, "Don't wanna make them flip out,"

"What mirror?" The redhead asked quickly, his nerves on edge as his mind spun with theories.

"We found Roxy's hand mirror about a month ago in storage; the manager gives it to the leading lady during each play. A fun little game the girls have," The man waved his hand and rolled his eyes, "I just know that they're gonna start fightin' over it eventually,"

"Thanks," Wally breathed, standing upright as the cogs of his thoughts settle into place, "I have to go,"

The redhead felt his chest tighten as he ran out of the men's dressing room and across the way to the women's. He definitely expected to be smacked around.

"A-" The name died in his throat as he launched himself into the room and he corrected himself, "Doreen!"

Shrieks filled the air and suddenly shoes and hair brushes were flying everywhere, Wally dodged them as best he could as he worked his way to Artemis, who seemed frozen in shock and anger. She grabbed him by the sleeve when he reached her and pulled him to the corner where he couldn't be in view of the women, '_Wally_!" She hissed, baring her teeth, "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"The mirror! It's her," He spoke quickly, grabbing the hands of his partner that were clenched in his button up shirt. His bright green eyes were wide and Artemis yanked him harder when he tried to catch a view of the room again.

"What?"

"We were wrong, it's not Cody," He explained with a harsh whisper, "Its Roxy, his wife!"

Artemis ducked her head close to his in order to hear each other better as they spoke above the din of the room, "The wife?"

"She's hooked onto her hand mirror and one of the actresses has it here," He pointed to the floor in order to signify that he meant the women's dressing room.

"Shit," Artemis cursed, releasing the redhead and leaning out of the corner to scope out the room, "Alright, you get out of here and start a fire somewhere _containable_," She emphasized with narrowed eyes, "I'll find the mirror,"

"It wasn't _that _bad," Wally defended with a frown, "And it was my first ghost,"

"You singed your eyebrows off!" She hissed, "And nearly burned the church down!"

"What was I supposed to do?!" He retorted, "You were gonna get skewered! I didn't have time to think about how to do it right!"

"Just don't burn the place down, _please_, Wally," Artemis huffed, shoving him toward the door. The redhead went with a smile and immediately started searching for something helpful.

Luckily it didn't take him long to find a metal barrel that was hanging around a collection of props. He rolled it to the center of the prepping area where there weren't as many flammable objects nearby and went looking once more for fuel to start the fire with. He had a lighter, but he also needed something that would burn.

"What are you doing man?" A stage crew worker asked as he discovered Wally collecting blankets from a couch against the wall.

"Don't worry about it," Wally grumbled, not even sparing the man a glance. The redhead didn't find himself being heckled any further he supposed that the worker had better things to do.

He dumped the blankets in the barrel along with some scrap wood he found by the set repairs. Wally pulled out the water bottle of lighter fluid Artemis made him carry around (which he considered a fire hazard waiting to happen), and poured a generous amount in the barrel.

"Wally!" Artemis called out, completely throwing away the use of their fake names as she rushed from the women's dressing room, a feather boa wrapped around her neck.

"What is _that_?" He laughed, pointing obnoxiously at his partner.

"A _present_," She growled, pulling it off of herself with ferocity and throwing it into the barrel, "And now it's _fuel_,"

Wally chuckled some more but pulled his lighter out and used the boa as a wick to the bottom of the barrel where the rest of the lighter-fluid covered items easily burst into flames, "Got the mirror?" He asked.

Artemis nodded and held out an ornate silver mirror, decorated with engravings of flowers.

She was about to drop it in the barrel when the ghost appeared, throwing her violently to the side, along with the mirror.

"Artemis!" Wally yelled, swiveling to face a raging ghost. Roxy stood only a few feet away and she was furious. Her attire was a ratty old costume from what Wally assumed was some sort of medieval play, there was dried blood matting her hair and dark circles under her eyes that stood out because of her overall glowing gray aura, "Roxy," He said slowly, his hand slipping into his jacket pocket to grab his iron wood file.

The ghost gave him no chance to attack, roughly throwing her arm out and tossing Wally across the way. He grunted when he landed, rolling to dispel the pain and quickly getting up on his elbows to look for Artemis.

The blonde had crashed into a group of props and her form was lying along the concrete floor; she wasn't moving. Wally scrambled to his feet and faced Roxy as she walked closer, her features menacing. His heart raced and he pulled out the file he'd been unable to reach before.

Roxy rushed him with a screech, her hands held out as claws and her long nails glinting with what Wally guessed was blood from some poor soul. The redhead shifted his good foot back and held his stance, his focus growing. The spirit got close and he moved fast, sliding his step to the side and ducking to avoid her hands, his arm reaching out to slash her with the iron file.

She screamed and disappeared in a cloud of smoldering gray ash, but Wally knew she wasn't gone for good. He turned quickly towards where Artemis had been thrown, his instincts readying himself to run there. But she wasn't there.

And suddenly Roxy was back, swiping at him from behind. He jumped to the side and rolled away from her grasp, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on his surroundings and anything she might throw his way. One of her hands rose toward the ceiling and Wally braced himself as he heard something metallic snapping. He understood that soon he would have to dodge.

But then the spirit's face fell, her murderous expression quickly dissolving into terror as flames appeared at her feet and fingertips, working inward.

She screamed, raging, and held her hands up in front of her face as she was engulfed in flames, her ghostly form turning into a few flecks of embers.

Wally knew exactly where to look for an explanation.

"Thanks for holding her off," Artemis spoke up with a smirk, her proud stance commanding his notice. Wally grinned and jogged over to her.

"You weren't really knocked out, were you?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"No, but I had the mirror so you had to have her attention." She shrugged.

"I love being bait," Wally sneered with crossed arms, his eyes hinting at amusement. Artemis chuckled and bumped elbows with him, glancing down at the fire that was still going in the barrel.

"You did good," She nodded in approval.

"What the _hell _was that?" An actress shrieked.

Artemis and Wally turned to the sound apprehensively. There, standing outside of the dressing rooms, was all of the actors and actresses.

"Was that Roxy?" The man that Wally had gotten the information from asked, his face pale.

"Yes," Wally grinned sheepishly, pointedly ignoring the flaming barrel he and his companion were standing next to.

"You're welcome," Artemis crossed her arms, a smug smile growing across her face.

"Goodbye," The redhead spoke up quickly, using the shell-shocked attitudes of the actors as a buffer as he ushered Artemis toward the door. The blonde chuckled and went along easily, pulling out the car keys as they reached the exit, "Time to get out of town!" Wally sang, getting into the car with a huff.

"Oh I don't know, that went so smoothly I was thinking that we deserved something for our hard work," She hummed, drumming her fingers along the steering wheel; although Wally could tell that she already had something in mind.

"Does this something involve a something that is somewhere?" He leaned over with a childish grin.

Artemis turned to give him a skeptical look as they drove, "I'm going to drop you off at the motel and you are going to pack up all of our stuff and check us out," She laid it out, "Then you will wait for me at the front office where I will pick you up,"

"And then we will go our somewhere for our something?" He continued eagerly.

"Yes," Artemis sighed, pulling into the motel parking lot, "But if my underwear has moved even an _inch _when I next open my bag I will skin you alive," She hissed, her eyes narrowed as she stared him down across the car.

Wally laughed and saluted, "Arty I already know your measurements, I bought you that swimsuit," He wiggled his eyebrows as he hopped out of the car.

"I hate you!" She yelled at him, her posture suddenly rigid.

"See you in a little bit, _Darling_," He smirked, blowing the blonde an exaggerated kiss.

Artemis bristled and peeled out of the lot, repeating a mantra that her plan was going to be worth it in the long run.

"We both need it," She muttered, "He did do really well against that ghost. Great reflexes. His stance is much better too," Artemis sighed, reasoning with herself and calming down.

She just had to keep her sharp anger in check.

* * *

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**The last chapter for this hunt will be posted sometime this week (Probably Wednesday or Thursday). I'm already halfway finished with the next hunt but, if you read the authors note in the first chapter, I won't start posting a new hunt until I'm entirely done writing it! I'm pretty confident that I'll have it finished by next weekend though!**

**_(Why do you wait to post the next hunt until your finished?)_ Well! It's because I want to make sure all of the plot holes are filled and everything is consistent!**

**Thank you for reading! **

**_Love,_ Veg**


	8. Jacuzzi

**Thank you so much for keeping with this! I know you all are getting frustrated with the large amounts of sexual tension! But that's largely why I wanted to write this! It's going to be a while until they get together, but they'll still be flirting and bantering all the way there! If you haven't noticed yet, I really enjoy writing in the small things that hint at their growing relationship, small touches, niceties, and times when its hinted at just how much they've gotten to know each other. And I also wanted to write this as them slowly falling in love.**

**In each hunt, they learn a little more about each other. They also grow and become better people, which is what a beautiful relationship is about. Two people who are better individuals together than they are apart. **

* * *

Fifteen minutes later the blonde was back in front of their motel and Wally eagerly threw their gear in the back seat before hopping in.

"You know, I worry that you're going to ditch me one of these times," He spoke up, relaxing into the seat and expecting a long ride.

Artemis smirked, "Think it through Wally, would I really leave my stuff behind?"

"Good point," He agreed, pulling a hoarded bag of chips out of his pocket.

"You shouldn't be eating," She chided, a secret smile hinting at her lips.

Wally stopped chewing abruptly, his head whipping to stare at her as she drove, "Did you do something to my chips?" He whimpered.

"No," Artemis laughed, pulling something out of a cup holder and tossing it at the redhead, "But you're gonna have to wait half an hour to get into the water now,"

Wally held the new motel key in the palm of his hand and stared at it as though he had discovered the holy grail. His eyes widened when he realized that his partner was serious and he clutched the keychain in his grip, "Seriously!?" A huge grin taking over his face.

"Seriously," She smirked, slowing the car before turning into the Cozy Corner Motel parking lot.

"Sweet!" He cheered, accidentally hitting his fists on the roof of the car, "Jacuzzi time!"

Artemis had barely parked the car before Wally had grabbed his bag from the back seat and rushed to their room, the redhead having collected the room number from the key he still held. She snickered at his childishness and collected her things in a more careful manner, making sure to lock the car before heading into their room.

"Oh dear," The blonde muttered, tossing her bag onto the bed as she took in the room, the door shutting loudly behind her and closing off the dimming evening sunlight. The walls were dark beige and there was only _one_bed, "We're not staying the night," She announced, her lips straightening into a grim line as she eyed the sultry red comforter and pillows.

Of course the Jacuzzi room was also the _honeymoon suite_.

Artemis listened with half an ear as Wally rustled around changing in the bathroom, entertaining herself by inspecting the Jacuzzi filling up in the back of the room. It was a bright red color and a decent size.

But the _shape_.

The blonde cursed, rolling her shoulders back and wondering if she could still grab her redhead and ditch the hotel before he convinced her to join him.

It was shaped like a giant heart. Which, although sickeningly romantic, was _not_ the problem that Artemis saw. The Jacuzzi was obviously made to suit two people, as there were two seats in it. One in each curve of the heart. But that also meant that they would have to share the area of the Jacuzzi where they're legs stretched out.

Artemis wrinkled her nose. She didn't want to share her Jacuzzi space with Wally. He had cooties.

"Heeey," Wally grinned as he sauntered out of the bathroom, sporting a pair of bright red and yellow swim trunks.

Artemis turned her head briefly to raise an eyebrow at the redhead but found her cheeks reddening at the sight of his bare chest. He was infuriatingly fit and all of his freaking muscles were defined due to his morning work-out regime and his trunks were low enough to catch a view of that 'V' in his hips and good _god_ that boy had freckles everywhere and she _hated _the fact that she found them attractive and-

The blonde turned abruptly, grabbing her bag, and took two exaggerated strides into the bathroom, locking the door securely behind her. Artemis rubbed her hands over her cheeks viciously, trying to get her blush to go away because she did _not_ blush. Especially from the sight of her _partner_. Even if he _did _have quite a bit of lean muscle and too many freckles for his own good.

"Jacuzzi's almost ready Arty!" Wally's cheery voice came through the door, thankfully saying nothing about her face, had he noticed. She wasn't sure if he had.

Artemis chose not to respond as she was changing into her swimsuit. She still didn't know how he had gotten her size, but he'd done well. Her bikini was simple, a deep green with a tied halter top. She refused to tell him that she actually was rather fond of how it looked. The blonde stuffed her clothes back into her bag after she'd finished changing and piled her long hair into a messy bun on the top of her head, completing her process before stepping hesitantly out of the bathroom.

She tossed her unneeded bag back onto that _ridiculous _bed and pursed her lips as she watched Wally staring at the water with eagerness.

"It's not-uh," Wally had looked up to speak but his words got caught in his throat as he took in the attire of his companion, "Uh-The water," He finished lamely, one hand reaching up to scratch at the back of his head.

"That's not a complete sentence," Artemis smirked, walking across the worn down carpet to stand beside the redhead, crossing her arms across her stomach. His eyes darted over to her for a moment and she resisted a smile when his ears slowly matched the color of his hair.

Wally shrugged and leaned over the Jacuzzi to turn the water off, flipping the air jets on immediately after. A grin lit up his face as the tub abruptly turned into a foaming rush of hot water. Artemis sighed and knitted her brows together, "Do I have to?"

The redhead stopped with one leg over the edge, looking back at the blonde with a frown, "C'mon Art, you need to relax," His chipper voice had melted into a more serious tone that Artemis could tell was hinting on the edge of _concern_. She wasn't quite sure what to do with that information though, so she stood a bit more rigidly.

Wally's smile came back and he reached his arm out for her, wrapping it around her shoulders and pressing his fingers into the muscles of her back, acutely aware of how _small _she seemed when it was just the two of them. With her bulky jacket full of weapons tucked into her satchel and her tough exterior shed to reveal her internal emotions, "You never relax," He tried again, pulling her gently towards the water.

Artemis sucked in a breath and made a face of uncertainty, "It's for good reason," She defended, her steel eyes watching the turmoil of the water as though it held one of the creatures they fought.

"Oh C'mere," Wally chuckled under his breath, inciting a shriek of surprise from the blonde when he suddenly picked her up, pulling her knees up and supporting her back. Artemis's face morphed into one of complete terror and the redhead laughed.

"Wally! Put me down!" She growled, her momentary shock morphing into her usual violent tendencies. However, Wally was quite used to this.

"We're relaxing!" He declared, stepping into the tub and setting Artemis down into one of the seats before settling into his own. Artemis sat unmoving for a moment, her pride not allowing her forgive him. Wally gave a deep sigh and stretched his legs out into the shared space while Artemis tucked hers in, "Are you relaxing yet?" He asked with his eyes closed.

"No," She snorted, giving the redhead a glare.

Wally rolled his head to the side on his shoulder to stare at her, "Do I need to _make _you relax?" He raised an eyebrow.

Artemis matched his stare with quiet intensity, the only noise in the room coming from the bubbling water around them.

The staring contest continued for a while, Artemis's eyebrows drawing farther down while Wally began making exaggerated seductive expressions to throw off her glare.

It finally concluded when Wally batted his eyelashes and successfully looked like he had begun having a seizure. Artemis let out a loud laugh and threw her head back, Wally's laughter quickly joining hers as he splashed her good naturedly. Artemis sputtered indignantly and lowered herself into the Jacuzzi until only her head was above water, "_Really_ Wally, don't be so rude, I'm _relaxing_," She announced with a smirk.

"Then my work here is done," He smiled, leaning back on his elbows and closing his eyes to focus on the air jets working the muscles of his lower back.

The two sat in comfortable silence for what Artemis felt like was half an hour, but was most likely only ten minutes. Wally occasionally letting out a satisfied groan as he stretched out another one of his long limbs towards a jet. Artemis eventually untucked her feet and maneuvered them into the open water, keeping her head down as she attempted to find a spot for her legs to rest where Wally's _weren't. _Her careful searching was in vain and Wally ended up trapping her ankles between his calves to keep her feet still, letting out a small laugh as he did.

"Hey Wally," Artemis spoke up quietly, breaking the silence that had encompassed the room.

"Hm?" He responded lazily, tilting his head to open his green eyes and see what the blonde wanted.

"It's been over three months since we left Central...Are you happy?" She asked, watching his features carefully.

Wally frowned, "'Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I dunno," Artemis shrugged, "Some hunters hate what they do, but you still have another life," She explained, "I just don't want you to forget, in case you change your mind,"

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" He teased, although Artemis could hear the bit of uncertainty that laced his voice, the worry.

"No," She responded quickly, "No I'm not," She said clearly, to make sure Wally understood she was telling the truth.

He nodded lightly, "I do enjoy this, the gig." Wally smiled before growing serious once more, "Are _you _happy?" He asked.

Artemis blinked a few times in surprised before drawing in a slow breath, thinking, "I did, when I first started. When I was with Ollie. But-" She paused, collecting her thoughts, "But working alone, it's kind of..."

"Lonely?" Wally supplied.

The blonde nodded, "Yeah, and it's kind of depressing. But this job is all I know," Her shoulders wilted, allowing Wally a rare glimpse to the insecurity that she held within.

"How about now?" Wally grinned, already knowing the answer, "Not so tough anymore?"

"No," Artemis laughed a bit, "And I'm definitely not lonely anymore. This, what we have, it _works_," She clarified.

"Yeah, I think it does too," Wally smiled, "And," His tone changed, "If you _do _decide that you don't want to do this anymore. You could always live in Central with my family and I; get you a start in the normal world," He offered.

Artemis was silent for a bit, taking in his words, "Really?"

"_Really_," He affirmed, "We can't do this forever, can we?" He asked.

"Well," Artemis bit her lip, "Most hunters just do it until they die,"

Wally leaned his head back, "That's pretty often, isn't it?"

The blonde just nodded without a word.

"Well that too bad for them, but we've got each other's backs," Wally spoke up optimistically, making Artemis smirk.

"You sure you're still up for all this?" She checked.

Wally laughed, "Yeah. You're stuck with me Arty," He grinned, stretching back and jostling their intertwined feet.

"Okay," Artemis smiled, "_Okay_,"

* * *

**Was that enough fluff to tide you all over for a little while? See? No kisses, but they're getting closer!**

**Please review to let me know what you think! **

**I plan to have the next hunt finished by the weekend so I can start posting, if I'm late I'll post the first chapter the moment after I'm done, no matter the time!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	9. Early Morning

**I stayed up late last night to finish this hunt and I'm so happy to bring you the next chapter!**

**Thank you so much for all of your continued support! I love you all! 3**

**This hunt ended up being longer than the other two, which is why it took so long, but I'm very please with it and I think you all will be too!**

* * *

Artemis was vaguely aware of something on her bed. Her groggy mind recognizing the weight of someone else's body dipping the mattress.

"Arty," Wally's voice materialized. The blonde groaned and pressed her face into the pillow, willing herself to _not _hear him and stay in her semi-lucid state, "Arty," He tried again, his large hand on her shoulder and nudging her.

"M'sleepin," She mumbled, tucking the comforter under her chin and scowling when she heard the redhead chuckle.

"Arty we're heading out today," He whined, poking her in the cheek. Artemis growled, turning her head to bare her teeth and snap them together a few times. Wally pulled on her earlobe.

"Wally," She groaned, kicking her legs around under the covers to try and shove him off the bed, "We just took out that Rugaru _yesterday_,"

"Last night," He corrected.

"Even worse!" Artemis lamented, "_Why _are we not sleeping in?"

Wally gave an apologetic smile when the half-asleep blonde pouted and huffed in unfairness, secretly enjoying her childish attitude, "You said that I could choose the next hunt,"

"So choose it," She grumbled, rolling onto her back and peeking at her companion over the blankets, her blonde hair spread half-hazardly over the pillows.

"I already did," He explained, pulling an article he printed out off of the bed next to her own and waving it in front of her face.

Artemis pulled the covers back a tad, revealing a frown, "I had choices picked out for you to choose from,"

"That's no fun," Wally retorted.

Artemis let out a deep sigh and found herself frustrated when she took in his state of disarray. His normally rather unruly hair was sticking up in strange directions and he had a flush of sleep still spread across his freckled cheeks.

She covered her head with the blankets in order to block the view and keep her opinions unbiased, "Why is _your_hunt so much better than whatever I had picked out for you," She huffed, sinking back into the pillows and kicking her legs when Wally placed a hand on her knee to shake her slightly and keep her attention.

"Because my choice is really weird," He told her proudly, making an exaggerated "Hup" as he hopped to the other side of the blonde and scooted up close to her side on his back, "Come out from under there and I can show you," He cooed, as though coaxing a child.

"I wanna sleep," She grumbled back, "What time is it anyway,"

"Its noon," Wally answered quickly.

Artemis pulled the blankets down, "Noon in what time zone?" She hissed.

"Probably Italy," He shrugged, pulling the article up to her face, "So there have been gorilla attacks in Metropolis,"

"Check the zoo," Artemis snorted.

"It's not from the zoo, all gorillas are accounted for," Wally pointed to a sentence in the article. Artemis pressed her face into the pillow again.

"What time is it in _this _time zone Wally?" She tried again, her tone much less forgiving.

"So no one knows where the hell this gorilla is coming from, and other than a sighting that lasted like, ten seconds, and the DNA evidence on the bodies, it would just be called a regular animal attack,"

"Wally," Artemis groaned.

"It _might _be seven thirty in the morning," He breathed through his teeth.

"I hate you," She rolled over, "This doesn't even sound like our kind of case,"

"But Artemis!" He defended, pressing his finger into her back to keep her awake, "It makes absolutely no sense. That's _exactly _our kind of case,"

"Not when I'm sleepy," Artemis responded hotly, bundling herself up in the blankets.

"Artemis," He continued pestering the blonde.

Wally tried to get her to stir but more often than not she would just groan and grumble. Her mind drifting off quickly. He sighed heavily and got off the bed to get on the computer.

It only took him a few minutes to print off directions for Metropolis.

* * *

Artemis awoke much differently the second time that day.

The sounds of the highway were the first clue.

"Wake up Beautiful," Wally sang, ruffling the blonde's unkempt hair as she blinked her way awake in the passenger seat.

"You little shit!" She cried, sitting up abruptly, her wide grey eyes scanning the surrounding road.

"We're in Illinois already," He informed her, reaching over to guide her hand to a bagel sitting on the center console, "Eat something,"

Artemis glared at the redhead and swiped the bagel away from him, biting into his viciously, "I never agreed to this,"

"That's why I put you in the car while you were sleeping," Wally laughed, pointing to his temple to signify his intelligence.

Artemis snorted, "So since you've kidnapped me and had all this time to think; have you figured out what we're up against in Metropolis?" She asked; her voice still a bit tetchy.

"I thought of a starting list of culprits, but it's pretty broad," He shrugged, "Rakshasa's can shapeshift but they kill inside homes. I've never heard of a shapeshifter turning into an animal before. It might be a misdiagnosed werewolf. Or someone's summon. Or a spirit, I guess,"

"That's a long list," Artemis rubbed her temples, glaring at the sign that told her they were entering the edge of Metropolis, "Our best bet is going to be a werewolf seen by a nearsighted witness. _If _this is a case for us at all,"

"Wow, you are just full of sunshine," Wally quipped.

"Yeah I'm a fucking rainbow," She grunted, slouching in her seat, "Find a motel before anyone sees me in my pajamas,"

Wally hummed politely as he meandered through the city edges where they could find the cheapest rooms.

"Just pick one," Artemis said, sitting up a little to glance out the window at their selection of the crop.

"Arty if we're gonna stay in the unclassiest motels in every town, we are going to stay in the swankiest of our choices," He declared, pursuing the area with a keen eye.

"_Wally_,"

"Alright, alright," He chuckled, pulling into the parking lot of a motel with an obnoxiously bright red roof. Neither really cared what the name was but Wally had deemed it the motel with the best upkeep.

Wally turned off the car and got their shared credit card from the glove box, freezing when he noticed that Artemis was preparing to get out of the car as well.

"Uh, Arty. Why don't you wait in the car while I get the room?" He asked hesitantly, glancing down at her over-sized band t-shirt and boxers (Which he's pretty sure she stole from _him _at some point but he couldn't prove it). "You're still in your pajamas,"

Artemis smirked in response as she got out, "Better bring the card along, West. If I beat you to the clerk who knows how I'll pay for the room,"

Wally let out a very unmanly shriek and scrambled to get to the blonde's side, only just remembering to lock the car behind them, "You're making a joke, right?"

The woman hummed and plastered on a charming smile as she entered the office, showing no reaction as the man behind the counter squinted at her dress, and then at the flustered redhead next to her, "We'd like a room," She announced, propping her elbows up on the counter and pressing her chest together.

Wally felt his fists clench when the man (who the redhead guessed was no more than thirty) seemed to have no problem drawing his eyes below Artemis's chin.

Wally frowned in confusion when he realized that his companion seemed rather short, but a quick glance at the floor informed him that she wasn't wearing her usual combat boots.

Actually, she wasn't wearing _any _shoes.

He drug a hand across his face and cursed underneath his breath, wondering if her actions were payback for dragging her to Metropolis and feeling a bit overprotective of the way the clerk was staring at her.

"Anything you need," He replied, flipping through a clipboard with a pleasant, though Wally thought it was lecherous, smile.

Artemis let out a flighty laugh and Wally had to physically restrain himself from dragging her back to the car. And maybe taking her temperature when she was there...

"Alright," The man's said his pleasant demeanor faltering slightly, "A one bedroom room with-"

"Two," The blonde corrected, her girly demeanor slowly slipping.

"_Two_," He repeated back, a gleam slowly growing in his eyes and he penciled something in on his papers.

"So what are you doing in Metropolis," The clerk asked, his kind demeanor returning just as fast as it had fled before.

Wally just wanted to deck him.

"We we're..." Artemis dropped off slowly, her face twisting into a scowl and her eyes narrowing, "Alright," She slapped her hands on the counter, making the man flinch.

"Arty?" Wally whispered, watching her closely because she was _not _being very predictable.

"I can't do this," She declared, "Don't engage me in conversation ever again," She glared at the clerk before turning on her bare heel towards the door, "Wally, I'll be by the car,"

Wally's eyebrows rose at her attitude, a smirk forming and a laugh bubbling to his lips.

The blonde stopped at the door, looking back briefly, "You're lucky I don't have any weapons on me," She said before leaving the office with a flourish of wild hair.

Wally's eyes darted back to the clerk, trying to withhold his laughter.

"One bed?" The clerk asked, a deep frown imprinted on his features.

The redhead's laughter was immediately broken and he looked to the floor.

"Uh, no. Two,"

He was _never_ waking her up early _again_.

* * *

Wally closed the motel door behind him carefully, wary of the blonde that was perched at their table with her toes tucked under her legs, typing away at the computer.

"I'm back from the station," He spoke up, wondering what kind of mood his partner was in as he shoved his shoes off and padded across the carpet.

When the redhead had left, Artemis had still been in a sour- and rather unpredictable- mood. Which is why he suggested that she stay behind while he went to get an update on the case from the police. She turned briefly to glance at him and Wally was relieved to see that she looked _normal _again. And not mischievous and combustible, as he'd believed before. Her hair was wet and piled carelessly in a loose bun atop her head, and she had changed out of her pajamas and into her usual attire of a large t-shirt and dark wash jeans.

And she was wearing her glasses. Wally mentally cursed; he could never think properly when she was wearing those damn things.

"What did you find?" She asked, reaching for a poptart and breaking a piece off to nibble on.

Wally's eyes drifted to the snack and she growled warningly, enticing a smile from the redhead as he sat down in the chair next to her, "The witness was really damn sure that they saw a gorilla. "Looked just like King Kong, but smaller" They'd said. The lab results could only conclude that it was some sort of primate, but even that is strange to find in a city. And the hearts were still with the victims,"

"Hmm," Artemis mused, clicking out of a few unneeded websites before turning to face her companion. Her glasses had slid to the end of her nose and Wally reached out and pushed them back, smirking when the blonde scowled at him but allowed it nonetheless, "Sadly, I think we can rule out a werewolf. They _always s_take the hearts, and definitely don't leave primate DNA," She sighed, "I'm really at a loss, Wally,"

"Should we call Kaldur?" The redhead shrugged, pulling a candy bar innocently out of his pocket, "Maybe it's some sort of creature that isn't native to North America. Kal would have info on something like that,"

"No," Artemis frowned, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, "I don't want to call him until we get some good solid evidence. He has too many books to make any headway without a decent direction to take,"

Wally didn't say anything in response and the blonde rose an eyebrow when she noticed that he was sitting very still with a serious frown spread across his features.

"Uhh, Wally?" She asked, moving her head to try and catch his frozen gaze.

"Bigfoot," He spoke gravely, his bright green eyes wide in the dim room lighting.

"No," Artemis snapped, "No way,"

"Why not!?" Wally asked, his hands settling firmly on his knees defensively.

"It's just a legend, it's not actually a creature," She frowned.

"Maybe it's an alpha, first of its kind," He suggested, "And there aren't many others yet,"

"I think it's more likely that a gorilla escaped from the zoo,"

"You can't deny that this whole situation is weird," Wally tried again, growing exasperated.

Artemis narrowed her eyes and sent him a _look_, "Weird is _normal _for us, Wally. Keep up with the program,"

"I'm just saying that we need to keep our options open because there aren't a lot of leads on this thing so far,"

The blonde opened her mouth to respond when suddenly Wally's cell phone began ringing in his jacket pocket. The two shared a look and the redhead quickly pulled it out to answer.

"Arthur Newton," He quipped professionally. Artemis leaned forward to listen but couldn't catch the other half of the conversation.

"Special Agent Newton, we've got another body. Same M.O. Thought you might need to check it out," A man spoke.

"I would, thank you for informing me. Where is the scene located? My partner, Special Agent Melanie Skillman, and I will meet you there," Wally answered, gesturing for the blonde to grab a scrap of paper.

"It's on Helmen, just north of Teele square," The cop said slowly, ensuring that Wally could hear.

"Helmen, north of Teele square," He whispered over to his partner, Artemis nodded as she scribbled the address down, "We'll see you in fifteen minutes sir,"

"Ten four," Was the quick response, followed by the dial tone.

Wally put the phone away with a frown, "What does 'Ten four' mean?"

"It means 'message received', but you don't use it in a phone conversation," Artemis rolled her eyes, sharing a smile as the two snickered, "What happened?" She continued, holding up the address Wally had prattled off.

The redhead stood and collected his gear, checking to ensure they he had bullets before holstering his gun, "They found another body that they think is a gorilla casualty,"

Artemis sighed and followed suit, grabbing the keys and heading out the door while Wally scrambled to keep up. He was still slow at preparing himself for public appearances. Then again, he tried much harder to look the part than Artemis did.

"Can we try to not get lost this time?" Wally groaned as he settled into the passenger seat.

"Oh what's the fun in that?" Artemis smirked, peeling out of the motel parking lot with little care to how many cars she cut off in the middle lane.

"I'm getting out the map," He grumbled.

* * *

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**The next chapter will be up Wed-Thurs!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	10. Megan

**You all got lucky! I don't like making chapters this long, but the breaks made it impossible to put in a clean chapter ending without making it longer.**

**This chapter gets pretty intense, I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

When they pulled up to the crime scene the duo had to push their way through the crowd to get to the edge of the police tape.

"Special Agent Arthur Newton," Wally spoke up with his badge in sight, his face grave. Artemis held a deep frown beside him, having been a bit rough as she shoved her way through the curious crowd of bystanders.

"Yes I heard you'd be coming," A young detective with warm chestnut colored skin nodded at their badges, gesturing for the two hunters to enter the scene. Her hair was up in a very tight bun that did little to hide the growing wrinkles forming in the creases of her features, "I'm Detective Harjavti, the victim was found about an hour ago by a man walking past the alleyway,"

Artemis surveyed the surroundings carefully for symbols or clues as they made their way to the body. It was a middle aged man, twisted into an unnatural position and tossed only barely behind the blocking shape of a trash can. Blood was spattered across the asphalt multiple feet in each direction, including some that had been dripping from the brick walls of the alley. The poor man's face was scarcely recognizable under the swelling of his injuries.

Wally shifted on his feet uncomfortably for a few moments, his nose repelling the smell of the body. Artemis wasted no time squatting down to glare at his injuries with a close eye.

"Any witnesses?" Wally asked, stepping over to the brick wall where most could assume that the majority of the beating took place based on the blood trails. He held his hands in his pockets to resist poking around for evidence and searched for any sign of fur or creature remnants.

"None, which is odd because the coroner," Harjavti pointed to a man working with a clipboard of notes by the ambulance, "Puts the time of death during broad daylight. Lots of people would be around, and yet no one seems to have heard or seen anything,"

Harjavti turned away from them when a rather unruly reporter started yelling about for something to put in an interview, the woman sternly walking over to deal with the situation.

Wally strode over to stand next to the blonde who was still going over the corpse with a keen eye, "I haven't found anything new or particularly conclusive, how about you?" He spoke in a hushed tone. Artemis stood and turned to stand closer to him, watching other cops and workers to make sure no one was close enough to hear them.

"There aren't any defined claw marks; this was definitely a beating, not an attack. Which I suppose would fit under a gorilla sort of field, but that in itself is still odd,"

Wally nodded numbly and narrowed his eyes, watching the crowd with confusion, "Do you see that?" He whispered, catching Artemis's attention.

The blonde followed his gaze to catch the sight of a young red haired woman in a blue skirt and matching cardigan who was wildly trying to gesture for the two to come over to her, though without speaking. Which was unusual in the large group of chattering bystanders.

Wally looked behind his shoulder to ensure that they weren't mistaken and pointed to himself silently. The woman nodded fervently and looked around anxiously to ensure that she hadn't caught anyone else's attention. He turned to his companion and Artemis shrugged.

"Can't hurt," She decided, leading the way to the edge of the police tape where the woman was waiting, "Hello?" Artemis greeted; the uncertainty of the situation in her voice.

"Can we help you?" Wally asked, being more considerate than the blonde.

"My name is Megan Morse, and I have some information about the case," The red haired woman spoke quickly, her eyes darting around to check the placement of the other officers.

"Why are you so nervous?" Artemis asked bluntly, crossing her arms and sending Megan a glare. Wally frowned at his partner and nudged her lightly, a sign that he was adverse to her harsh tone.

"I don't want the other officers to be aware of our talk. I will tell you what I know, but you have to come to my house and hear me out. You won't like what you're going to hear," Megan bit her lip.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Artemis continued.

"You don't," Megan sighed, wringing her hands, "Look, here's my address," She pressed a slip of paper into Wally's hands swiftly, "You can come by anytime. But I don't think you'll be able to figure out what's behind this without my help, I'm sorry,"

"We'll be there," Wally spoke up confidently, tucking the paper carefully into his pocket. Artemis shot him a glare while Megan ran off.

"Don't make promises like that, We don't even know who she is!" The blonde hissed.

"So?"

"Agents?" Harjavti spoke up as she walked over, the two sharpened up quickly before facing her, "Have you made any progress?"

"Maybe," Artemis answered, "I think we're gonna head out to start doing some research," She told the detective, being vague on purpose.

"Please be sure to keep me updated on your progress," She spoke seriously, "And I will do the same,"

"Of course Detective," Wally nodded, following Artemis's lead off of the scene's premises.

The minute they were out of hearing range the argument started up again.

"What if she's connected to the creature, or whatever it is. And she's trying to trap us," Artemis hissed, being overly rough with the car door.

"Then we'll be prepared," Wally retorted, patting the car's dashboard in consolation from the blonde's harsh actions, which got him a glare, "What evidence do we have that someone like Megan would be involved in the creature's way anyway?"

"And who is 'someone like Megan'?" Artemis shot back, driving erratically through the city, "Monsters don't have to look ugly, Wally! It could be a ruse!"

"Well what else do we have to go on!?" He argued back, "We'll be cautious, treat it like an ambush, but it's the only lead we have!"

Artemis pulled into the motel lot with unnecessary speed and screeched into a spot near their room, stopping with a huff that sounded suspiciously like a growl with the car engine rumbling around them.

"I don't like this," She spoke lowly.

"What are you afraid of? We'll watch each other's backs," Wally grinned, lightening the situation, "Come on, I'll make you some noodles in the microwave and you can stew about this over the broth," He nudged her playfully.

The blonde deflated slightly and turned off the car, "Can I grumble under my breath and hiss when you get near me?" She asked under her breath, a slight smile growing.

"Yeah," The redhead laughed, hopping out of the car with her right behind him, "You can be moody and pissy and get it all out of your system so that you can be top notch when we meet up with Megan later,"

Artemis seemed unsure of his statement, her nose wrinkling, "I'm not _moody_,"

"No, you're right," Wally gave an exaggerated sigh, and shoved the door to their room open with his shoulder, "You're not moody, you're stressed. We should get another jacuzzi room," He spoke decisively.

"Make me my noodles, _West_,"

* * *

"It says that she's in apartment 23" Wally said, glancing up at the rather swanky apartment building that he and Artemis had pulled up to, "I was expecting something sketchier," He frowned.

"Yeah," Artemis breathed, her eyebrows raised, "Me too, actually,"

The blonde turned off the car and the two got out quietly, shutting the doors with slow caution in order to not make much noise. Quality or not, the apartment was still unknown territory that could still be part of a trap. They didn't want more notice than actually was necessary.

The main entrance was at the top of a sturdy flight of steps and an elegant lobby with a few couches was behind the glass doors. Wally held a hand out to halt his partner as she reached for the doors.

"Now remember when we get up there, control your temper. Don't attack until attacked or until certain that we are in _danger_. She could actually just be a citizen that learned something but doesn't want it public because she's worried people might think she's crazy," He reasoned, one hand on her shoulder. Artemis let out a breath of frustrated air and nodded stiffly, although while brushing her fingers reassuringly across her favorite semi-automatic that was snug inside her jacket.

Wally glared at her for a few extra seconds before relenting and pushing through the heavy glass doors. They took the stairs on Wally's account (He hated tight spaces) and quickly made it to the second floor.

"Room 23," The redhead whispered, reading the passing doors as they walked down the hallway.

Megan's room was surprisingly easy to find, the duo didn't even need to know the room number to find it.

"Wow," Artemis breathed, her voice taking on a sarcastic tint, "That's subtle,"

Megan's door was covered in very large cut out letters that informed everyone in passing that it was "Conner Kent and Megan Morse's Apartment," With a few pictures of a large white Siberian husky taped around the letters.

"My deductive skills aren't getting anything from that," Wally muttered in a mocking tone, leaning forward to eye the pictures, "Dog's cute though,"

"Get out of the way, I'm going to knock," Artemis smirked, fighting a small laugh when Wally turned to point at a picture of the dog with a pleading look on his face, "Yes it's cute, no we can't get a dog,"

Wally frowned and scooted over to allow room for the two of them to stand side by side in front of the door. Artemis knocked firmly a few times, her right hand by her side, prepared for an ambush.

The door opened and Megan's face popped around the edge, "Thank goodness you came! Please come in!" She chirped. There was a smile on her face but the two could easily hear the anxiousness in her voice. She brought them into the living room and a large white husky, the same from the pictures, rushed in to greet them, immediately taking to Megan's side. His ears turned back with warning. Wally pulled his hand back.

"That's Wolf, he doesn't like new people," A deep, gruff voice sounded out. Artemis followed it to a very buff man standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Oh! Of course! This is Conner Kent! He's my husband," Megan grinned, leading everyone over to the couches in the living room that the entryway connected to, "Please have a seat,"

Wally took a seat immediately and seemed quite pleased with the situation, relaxing into the plush chair with ease. Artemis, however, was still on edge and sat very stiffly on the couch, her face grave, "I'm Spec-"

"Uh, don't bother with the fake names," Megan blushed as she cut him off with a wave, taking as seat on the second couch in the room, Conner walked up to sit beside her, his gaze stern, "I, um, I'm not quite sure how to start explaining everything, so I'll just wing it,"

Artemis sat rigidly when Megan mentioned their fake names, Wally putting his hand placating on her knee to keep her from making any rash decisions. His own nerves growing as well.

"I understand what you are. That you're hunters. I know what you do," Megan explained cautiously, "So I brought you here to share what I know about what's going on here in Metropolis. I've been collecting information as best I can, but _I'm _not a hunter so I can't do anything with what I learn," She frowned, relaxing a touch when Conner's arm slid around her shoulders.

"How do you know about hunters?" Artemis asked; her voice taut and her muscles tense. Though Wally's hand was still keeping her in relative calm with his warm grip.

"My family was largely involved with them, however I chose not to follow that path," Megan explained. The blonde narrowed her eyes, quickly devising that the woman was hiding something.

"What have you learned?" Wally spoke up, his tone much kinder and receiving a warmer response. His gaze distracted when Wolf settled across Megan and Conner's feet.

"They're skinwalkers," She said, "I think they showed up about a month or two ago, but their numbers are rising. Various kids of all ages are disappearing, adults are being found murdered. Animal control has started receiving more calls than ever about strange animals that are never found. Animals that should only be found in a zoo, and not walking around Metropolis,"

"Then the gorilla attacks started," Conner frowned, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. Megan nodded in affirmation.

"People started getting murdered by the same culprit and a connection was made by the police and media, I think one of the skinwalkers broke off from the others. 'Went rogue' so to speak," She explained.

"What are skinwalkers doing in Metropolis?" Wally mumbled.

"Skinwalkers are notorious for attempting to turn entire towns," Artemis scowled, "I don't know why they're so intent on it, but they are. And they do show up in large groups,"

"I can't find out where they are," Megan frowned, "My skills in this kind of expertise are very limited,"

"You've done great so far Megan," Wally beamed at her. Conner sent the redhead a deep glare and Wally rose an eyebrow in confusion.

"So your family were hunters, Megan?" Artemis asked, hiding her suspicion very poorly in her tone.

The woman shifted under the blonde's steely gaze, "Ah, well, n-not exactly," She frowned.

"Psychics?" Wally offered helpfully, rather oblivious to Artemis's silent interrogation tactics. Conner, however, was not unaware and was sending the blonde a harsh gaze right back at her. Artemis ignored it.

"No," Megan squeaked.

"What are you Megan?" Artemis spoke lowly, her tone serious. Wally was abruptly aware of the change in the air and his pressed his hand harder atop Artemis's leg, hoping to control her.

"I'm trying to be normal," The woman whispered, her hands clenching in her lap.

"I think you should leave," Conner growled, sitting forward in his seat, his muscles tensing.

Wally threw an arm around Artemis's shoulders to speak directly into her ear, "We need to hear her out, Arty,"

"What. Are. You?"

"_Artemis-_"

_"I'm not a monster!_" Megan shrieked, her hands flying to clench at her head, her body curling in on itself. Wolf stood up at the noise and began barking at the two visitors.

"Time for you to go!" Conner boomed.

"What is she?!" Artemis roared, her hand reaching for the gun in her jacket.

But Wally was faster, snatching the blonde's wrist is his grip, "We're leaving," He told Conner, his face grave.

Artemis yelled when Wally dragged her out of the apartment, fighting his grip with curses spilling from her lips. Conner and Wolf followed them closely, shutting and locking the front door behind them.

"Wally!" Artemis shouted furiously, her features feral when the redhead wrestled her against the hallway wall and forcefully took her gun from her jacket, "What are you doing!?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing!" Wally yelled back, his face red with anger, "What the hell was that!?" He gestured to the decorated apartment door where Wolf's barking could still faintly be heard.

"She's a monster, Wally!" She argued, struggling against his grip.

"How do you know that?!" He yelled back, "What did you see in her that told you she was a killer!?"

"They're all killers! Have you ever met a creature that wasn't a killer!?" She asked rhetorically, her eyebrows raised in competition.

Wally got closer, getting into her face even though they were certainly yelling loud enough to hear each other, his freckled face warped with the wrinkles that formed in his anger, "Well how would you know if you'd met one!? You'd kill them before they ever got a chance to tell you!"

Artemis's face filled with terror and Wally took a step back. The blonde stepped away from the wall slowly, wavering slightly on her feet. Wally swiftly brought his arms out to catch her by the shoulders, his face losing its harsh edge. "No," She whispered, "I've been doing the right thing. They're _monsters_. I'm saving innocent lives,"

The both heard the underlying "_Aren't I?_"

Wally pulled her close when she shuddered in disgust and pressed her tightly against his chest, her arms wrapping hesitantly around his torso and her head falling into the crook of his neck, "There are humans in the world that aren't innocent. There are thieves, killers, and rapists in the human race. So why should it stand that monsters are only bad? You've got to keep an open mind, Arty," He whispered, pressing a chaste kiss to the top of her head.

"What if I _have _killed an innocent monster before?" Artemis spoke up hoarsely, her throat was constricted, "What if I did, and I never knew?" She sighed and pressed her forehead into his collarbone, "I don't think I have enough hope in the world to see past what I've been trained to believe," She admitted with regret.

"Then I'll do that part for you," Wally smiled, pulling away from the hug to make sure she could see his grin, "But you have to make sure you'll listen to me when I need you to,"

Artemis nodded with a sigh, her frustration ebbing, "But if she isn't innocent..." She whispered.

The redhead tensed a bit, his hands which here still on her shoulders getting a bit tighter with their grip.

"If she _is_ like the rest, will _you_ listen to _me_?" Artemis questioned, "Can you look past her sweet exterior? Past her pretty face?" Her voice was tight as she spoke up and Wally caught on.

"Yes. And I suppose I can be prejudice as well," He admitted.

"Then we will keep each other objective," She decided, smiling a little.

Wally grinned and held out his hand for her to shake.

"Geek," She smirked, shaking her partner's hand.

"We should listen to Megan's side of the story now," Wally spoke up, pointing a thumb at the door. Artemis nodded reluctantly and followed the redhead to the door. He knocked and it took a moment before Conner opened the door a fraction, his glare just as fierce as when they had left.

"I've calmed her down," Wally explained, "We're here to listen,"

"How do I know you won't try to hurt her when you get in here?" Conner snarled, sending an evil eye towards the blonde standing behind Wally.

"You can take our weapons," The redhead offered, "Anything that might hurt her, or all of them,"

The raven haired man nodded roughly and opened the door farther, allowing them into the entryway where the two stripped themselves of their weapons.

Conner's eyebrows rose when the two filled up the whole entryway table with their weapons. An assortment of knives, two guns each, and a couple odd objects that they kept because of their iron quality. The sound of pans clanging around in the kitchen was the only conflicting noise as they de-armed themselves.

"She likes to bake when she's _upset_," He explained, emphasizing the fact that her emotional state was their fault. Wally had the decency to look sheepish, Artemis was doing her best to keep a blank face, "Megan, they're back," Conner called out.

Megan's bright red hair and then half of her face peeked out behind the kitchen door, "Oh?"

"They have no weapons," He explained, "They want to hear your story," His voice softened. Wolf padded slowly into the living room from behind Megan, standing guard.

"Alright," Her voice was light, "I'll just be a minute,"

Conner gestured to the same couch the hunters had sat on before and the two awkwardly situated themselves among the cushions. Conner sat where he was before and kept a hawk-like watch on Artemis as they waited for Megan.

The woman popped out of the kitchen with false cheeriness and a plate full of cookies. A grin split across Wally's face at the sight of them. Megan settled on her couch and placed the cookies on the coffee table between them, "Please, help yourself," She whispered.

Wally quickly grabbed a cookie while Artemis made no move toward them, "We want to hear your side of the story, Megan," Wally explained before biting into the treat, his face instantly melted into ecstasy, "Oh my god these are _amazing_," He gushed without shame.

Megan smiled and seemed to relax a bit at his statement, recognizing that he wasn't acting or trying to suck up to her.

"By the way. My name is Wally, this is Artemis," He introduced, gesturing proudly to his partner, who nodded.

"I'm a shapeshifter," Megan blurted out, her gaze on her lap. This caught the hunter's attention.

"I've never seen a shapeshifter..." Wally mused, looking at Megan as though he'd just noticed her.

"But you know about them?" She asked. The redhead nodded, "I was raised mostly by the kind of shapeshifters you're familiar with. A group of them, training me how to survive through murder and deception," She spat out, shaking her head, "I didn't' want any part of it though, I didn't want to hurt anyone.I didn't see why I had to," Megan's eyes got a bit glossy and her hands grasped uselessly at the hem of her skirt, "I may have been born a monster, but that doesn't mean I have to act like one," Her voice was sharp.

Artemis set her gaze to the ground, her memories stirring; Wally set his hand on her knee to keep her attention in the present.

"My Uncle John, though," Megan said fondly, "He noticed me, noticed that I didn't want to be like the others. So he stole me away, raised me as best he could to fit into society," She explained proudly, "I have a job now, and a home. I have a normal life. I met Conner and we started dating pretty quickly," A blush rose to her cheeks and Conner smiled for the first time since the two hunters had first arrived, "I didn't know how to tell him...what I am. But he figured it out. He figured it out and he waited for me to tell him," Megan's gaze was far of at this point, her memories stirring behind her bright eyes, "We moved in together, got married. We even got Wolf," She smiled.

"But what about the shifting?" Artemis asked, her eyebrows drawn down in confusion, "Whose form are you taking?"

"There was an old show I used to watch with my Uncle when we were assimilating to society, I'm taking the form of an actor on the show. My kind must shift out of their skin every once and awhile, however," Megan gulped and shifted in her seat, embarrassed to talk about her shifting, "If I don't, my old skin will fall at the faintest touch, it's very unpleasant," She explained, "I go out to the woods every weekend and shift into the same form, sometimes adding changes that occur with age,"

Megan took a deep breath and leaned into Conner's side, "I don't want to be what I am; and I'm doing the best I can to be normal. We both are. We're even looking into adoptions," She smiled, turning to gaze into Conner's eyes. He smiled back and tightened his grip on her waist.

Wally turned his head to glance at Artemis, attempting to gage her reaction. The blonde was still slightly frowning but he decided that it was just out of minor confusion than instead of intense suspicion. It was progress.

"Thank you for listening," Megan spoke again, her features relaxed, "But what I am really concerned about is the city. Will you be looking into the problem further? The children are in danger," She fisted her hand against her bosom.

"We will look into it," Artemis told her, "But we'll need to affirm that these are actually skinwalkers. If it's not, and this is the work of humans, then we can't stay,"

"Thank you," Megan said again.

Wally stood, signifying that he and Artemis were to leave, the blonde following his lead, "I'm sorry, about earlier," He apologized, a nervous smile in place.

"Just save the city," Megan smiled, her and Conner leading them to the door, "And we'll still be here, if you need anything,"

Wally nodded gratefully, rambling off the name of the motel they were staying in whilst guiding Artemis out the door.

They were walking down the hallway when Artemis spoke up.

"I think I understand her," She whispered, causing Wally to lean closer so that he could hear, "If she's telling the truth,"

"How so?" He pressed lightly, knowing that the blonde was only on the edge of revealing any of her history.

"Being raised to do something you don't want to," Artemis continued speaking quietly, as though the words didn't want to leave her lips, "I understand that..."

* * *

**What do you think? Leave me a review!**

**Note: I finally got Wally's fake name right! In the show Supernatural Sam and Dean are always using the names of rockstars on their fake badges. The first fake name I gave Wally was Tom Hayes. This was a mistake! I was supposed to be Tom Richards and John Hayes, but I screwed up. Wally's fake names are all past Olympic runners. Artemis's fake names are all Olympic archers! Kudos to you if you noticed!**

**Look to the weekend for the next chapter!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	11. Occupied

**Hey! Here's the next chapter, hope you all like it!**

* * *

"What would they want with the children?" Wally scowled, thumbing through the list of missing children from the last six months.

"I think a better question is _how _they managed to kidnap so many kids," Artemis mused, bending over a map of the city that they had begun drawing all over, attempting to find a possible location where the skinwalkers were staging their 'Headquarters'.

Wally frowned and made his way over to their mini fridge, making an indignant squawk when he found it empty, "Arty! We're out of food!"

"What a _tragedy_," She hummed, circling the location of the found victims.

"_Artemis Crock_. We need food," The redhead's tone turned grave as he stood dramatically in the middle of the room with his arms crossed.

Artemis rose an eyebrow and turned to glance at her companion, "Hop to it then," She encouraged with a shrug.

"You're carelessness about this situation concerns me," Wally informed her before snatching up the car keys. Artemis laughed.

"Try not to eat all of the crap you buy before you get back here, alright?" She yelled out before he made it out the door. The redhead gave an offended wave of the hand before he was gone.

Artemis finished up dotting her map before turning to the laptop. It never took her long to get the link up.

"Artemis, how are you?" Kaldur asked as soon as his video feed popped up on the screen, his calm nature soothing, as always.

"A little stressed," She admitted, enjoying that she could talk so honestly with her best friend. Largely because he would catch her lies and wheedle the truth out of her anyway. She gave up trying to fib to him long ago.

"Is Wally involved?" Kaldur smirked, the sunlight from his side of the coast spilling into the room behind him.

"Why are you even _asking_?" She laughed, "Of course he is," Artemis frowned after a moment, "But how come _you _know that?"

"Because Wally brings the best out of you," He explained with a smile.

"I don't feel very _best_," Artemis huffed, pillowing her chin on her fist.

"You are at your best because he makes you _care. _About anything and everything. You are much less of a soldier now, and more of an individual,"

The blonde scowled, "You're getting sappy, Kal,"

"Only because _you _are, my friend," He grinned.

"I need you to look up the history on someone," Artemis shifted the conversation.

"An ex-girlfriend of Wally's, perhaps?"

"Kal!" The blonde shrieked indignantly, her face flushing.

Kaldur laughed lightly, "I will take that as a no,"

"Her name is Megan Morse," Artemis continued dodging the conversation, "She's a shapeshifter who claims to have left the monster life behind when she was young. I need to know if her story matches her history,"

"I can do that," He assured her, "Where is your companion?" He questioned back.

"Why do you keep asking about Wally, Kal?" Artemis teased, "Need me to give him your number?"

"Firstly, he already is in possession of my number. Secondly, you are quite aware that I am already in a relationship," Kaldur stated.

Artemis nodded absently with a smile, "I _know_, I _know_,"

"I assure you I would not try to steal Wally away from you,"

"Megan Morse, Kaldur!" Artemis yelped.

She closed the connection while Kaldur was still chuckling; turning immediately back to the map of Metropolis that was beginning to look rather more like a child's scribbling handwork.

"There have been six murders," Artemis mused, re outlining the circles she'd drawn for the locations, "If the murderer was a skinwalker, then he's probably based out of their headquarters. So the murders are all going to be near there..."

She folded an unneeded piece of paper into a ruler and started drawing lines between all of the murder sites, looking for a common crossing point. One section of the map began becoming rather dark with all of the crossing lines, and Artemis decided to pull up the satellite map on her laptop to check for possible locations.

Artemis had jotted down a list of all possible hideout and was running a search on all of the animal control calls in the last two months when Wally returned.

"I come bearing gifts!" He exclaimed joyfully, barging into the hotel room with his arms full of plastic bags.

"It's not a gift if I helped pay for it," Artemis snorted, getting up to assess what the redhead had gotten. Wally dumped the bags onto his bed and smiled when the collection spilled across the comforter.

"There was a sale on chocolate covered pretzels," He pointed out, picking up one particular bag and dumping the contents out.

"Oh my God! Wally that's a ton!" Artemis cursed, pawing through the pile.

"It was three dollars for five bags!" Wally defended, ripping open one of the many bags and beginning to chow down.

"How many did you _get_?" She breathed, poking through the collection to see if there were enough food essentials and not just snacks and candy. The blonde wasn't too surprised to find that they were lacking. She always had to make a separate trip for fruits, vegetables, and meal items.

"I got like twenty bags," Wally stated through a mouthful of chocolate and pretzels, "How's the hunt going?"

"Oh," Artemis remembered, tossing her yogurt in the mini fridge on her way back over to the laptop. While the essentials were never priority when Wally went to the store, he did always remember to pick up one of _her_favorite treats as well. Probably as insurance when he pulled crap like the mountain of pretzels on the bed.

"I looks like you made some headway on the map," Wally mused as the blonde looked through her search results, his fingers tracing absently over the sharpie lines as he waited for the update.

"Yeah, I got a sector that we can scout out later. Wow, these _are _strange calls," Artemis frowned, pulling her chair over as a sign for the redhead to join her at the screen. Wally got the message and sat down in the chair next to hers, "Check this out. In only the past two months there have been over thirty emergency calls about monkeys, exotic birds, big cats, and other wild animals. But none have been caught,"

"Jeez," Wally whistled lowly, narrowing his eyes as he read off the report list, "Sounds like the circus is in town. Should we call Dick?" He grinned.

Artemis laughed before her face froze, "How did you know that Dick was in the circus?" She shot at him.

"I call him sometimes when I'm bored, you're usually asleep," Wally shrugged, leaning back into the chair, "We get along really great, and it's nice to chat with more people that know about hunting,"

The blonde frowned a bit as she took in this information, "I'm not asleep _that _much,"

"No," Wally agreed with a laugh, "But I go on runs in the morning and sometimes when I get back it's still too early for your day to start,"

Artemis nodded, recalling that _yes_, she had known that the redhead went on daily runs to control the strangely vast amounts of energy that he naturally hoarded from his godly genetics.

"So, we doing a stakeout tonight?" He asked, picking up the list of hideout possibilities that Artemis had collected.

"The area we need to check out is too big for a stakeout," Artemis sighed dejectedly, "We'll need to scout around on foot. It's a pretty sketchy area so dress down, but not in stealthy clothes,"

Wally got up to rummage through his clothes, "Let me guess, we're gonna be a lost tourist couple if anyone asks?"

"Right on, Speedy," Artemis smirked, throwing out the nickname she knew made him scowl.

Wally didn't disappoint.

* * *

Preparing for their nightly scout had taken longer than anticipated.

Wally would say it was Artemis's fault.

Artemis would say it was Wally's.

The redhead had insisted that if the two were going to parade about as a normal couple then Artemis had to wear something that made her look less _abrasive _to throw off any suspicion. The blonde had vehemently disagreed and the two ended up bickering for over half an hour as Wally searched for something in her wardrobe that didn't tip anyone off toward her violent tendencies.

The search was largely useless and before it was over Wally had ended up attempting to try on a few articles to prove his arguing points while Artemis thwacked him with a pair of trousers she had swiped from _his _duffel to retaliate.

In the end, they both agreed that Artemis's abrasiveness was _not _a product of her clothing choice. Rather, the issue was the blonde herself.

"Don't _snarl _at people when we pass them," Wally hissed into her ear, pulling the blonde closer to the alleyways wall, "We're supposed to be a couple of innocent, lost people," He reminded her.

No one had stopped them yet to converse and widen their story, but the two had stuck with the plan as best they could by stopping and whispering at corners, keeping a map out, and holding hands as they walked.

"I'm not snarling," Artemis protested, "I'm _analyzing_. Any of the people we pass could be suspects,"

"Well this area hasn't been looking very promising so far," Wally gripped, pointedly ignoring the stare of an off-hour prostitute, "None of the buildings have had any sort of suspicious actions. No guards, no people going in or out, no proof of residents,"

"This is the most logical area for them to be based out of," Artemis frowned, carefully eyeing an old warehouse as they passed slowly on their route.

Suddenly, tires screeched somewhere nearby, causing the duo to freeze.

"STOP! HELP! LET ME GO! HELP!" A boy's voice rang out. Car doors clunked.

The two began running immediately toward the sound, having no need to stop and converse on a plan.

"HELP! SOMEBO-MMFFF" The frightened voice became muffled, but it was still close enough to hear. Wally reached the commotion much faster than Artemis, stopping behind a dumpster to get a good look while waiting for his partner.

The boy was being manhandled out of an unmarked white utility van. He looked about ten years old; fair skinned, and had dark auburn hair. There were at least six men surrounding the van, some having exited it as they pulled the kid out of the back and roughly carried him (now with a rag stuffed in his mouth) towards a rundown building. A crow flew around them in the sky a few times before landing in the shadow of the vehicle, transforming into a man.

Artemis had skidded to a stop behind the redhead a few moments before, her gun already in hand, "Shit," She cursed, gritting her teeth at the situation.

"Yeah," Wally breathed, his finger already on the trigger of his handgun, "I'll get the three around the van?" He suggested.

"Wally don't be an idiot," Artemis hissed, "If there's this many outside the building, can you imagine how many will be _inside_? We don't even have enough ammo on us to handle them,"

"But the kid!" He whispered back harshly, his eyes still locked on the remaining men still loitering about the van, picking through and sorting whatever junk they'd stolen and thrown in the back.

"I know," Her voice was pained, "But if we try taking them out right now we'll be killed, and he'll be none better off,"

"So we're supposed to just leave him?" Wally snapped back, turning away from the scene to face the blonde.

"I'm not happy about this either," She huffed, "But we need to go in there with a plan and a stockpile of weapons. We can be ready by tomorrow night if we hustle. The other kids haven't been found yet. So it's likely that they're all still alive, the skinwalkers have no reason to kill them," Artemis reasoned, relaxing when the redhead lost his tense edge.

"You're right," He mumbled, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He'd turned slightly back towards the van and suddenly his bright green eyes caught sight of two of the men heading towards their alley.

"What is it?" Artemis hissed, noticing when Wally jumped back from the edge of the dumpster, out of view.

"We've gotta be occupied, _quick_," He whispered, grabbing the blonde by the waist before pushing her against the wall, "Sorry,"

Artemis got the message pretty fast when he crushed his lips against hers and pressed his entire body into her own. She curled her arms around his neck and kissed him back vigorously, grabbing a handful of his wild red hair and hitching a leg up against his hip for good measure. Wally let out a loud groan and Artemis felt her heart leap into her throat when she couldn't tell if it had been real or fake. She chose not to think about it and instead battled the feeling of his warm fingers digging into the sides of her hips.

"_Hey_!" A gruff voice shouted, "Get outta here! This the loading dock!"

The two jumped apart and glanced at the two men that were sneering at them across the alley. Artemis sent them a nasty glare while Wally pulled the blonde tightly into his side and sped-walked away.

The moment they were around the closest corner Wally stepped away from Artemis, turning his brightly blushing face the other direction, "I, uh, I'm really sorry about, uh, that," He mumbled.

Artemis took a deep breath, avoid his gaze, "Well, I mean, I understand. It wasn't exactly your fault,"

"Not, that it was _bad_, or anything," He rambled.

"No! No, it was...It didn't kill me," Artemis pursed her lips.

"So..." The redhead started awkwardly, drawing his hand up to scratch at the back of his neck.

"Yeah," She nodded, "Let's get back,"

Wally nodded in agreement and they began walking back towards the car that was parked a block away. A stiff arm's length distance having formed between them.

* * *

**Ohhh! First kiss! I bet it wasn't what you all were expecting, huh? Who do you think the boy is? Anyone important?**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**I hope to finish the next hunt in time to post it on schedule, but just like this last one I'm getting kind of busy and I don't have a lot of time to work on it. It's finals this weeks so I'm stockpiling on the studying time!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	12. History

**Hello! Welcome to chapter twelve! I absolutely loved all of the guesses in the review on who the boy is. Some of you were right, some of you were wrong! You won't find out who he is this chapter though, that's next chapter. But I really think you guys are going to like this one. So let's not waste any more time!**

* * *

"Artemis" Wally called, knocking on the bathroom door. The blonde opened the door to answer since she had already dressed after her shower. The two had been awkwardly quiet to each other since they'd returned from their semi-successful mission.

Neither had mentioned the kiss again, though there really hadn't been much time to. Artemis had jumped into the shower the moment they'd returned, choosing to mull over their close contact somewhere she knew he couldn't disturb her. She was almost upset with herself for how much she enjoyed it. Even though they were pretending, Wally was gentle. She could feel the tenderness in his touch and it had taken her off guard.

He had seemed just as lost, clearing his throat before speaking, his words chosen carefully instead of their usual spontaneity.

Artemis hoped he wasn't going to bring it up as he stood before her, his hand scratching at the back of his head.

"Hmm?" She questioned, pulling a wide brush through her wet hair and getting water all over Wally's toes. He frowned and rubbed them into the carpet.

"Kal called," Wally responded, grabbing his toothbrush and walking into the steam filled bathroom.

"Oh?" Artemis said innocently, wondering how the redhead would react to the background check she'd had her friend do.

"Megan checks out," He spoke up around a mouthful of toothpaste, "Her story matches up with her history,"

"Ah," The blonde settled down under the blankets of her bed, relaxing into the mattress, "I guess we don't have any reason not to believe her now,"

Wally didn't respond but she could hear the faucet running. Artemis pulled the covers up over her shoulders, feeling her eyelids grow heavy.

"Are you upset that I had Kal check her out?" She mumbled as the redhead shuffled back across the room and threw the covers off of his bed before getting in.

He'd settled underneath a couple of sheets before answering, his bright green eyes and red hair standing out against the white fabric, "No, I understand why you did it,"

Artemis just nodded, tired and unwilling to chat, "G'night Walls,"

He seemed to share the sentiment, "Night Arty,"

* * *

_"Move your foot back Artemis!" He yelled, his voice booming across the expanse of the building, "I could topple you over with one kick!"_

_The small blonde frowned and did as her father said, holding the knife in her hand a little tighter. _

_"Jade! Charge her!" The man ordered, watching from the sidelines as a young woman with wild black hair rushed her sister. _

_"Ah!" Artemis yelped, leaping back when Jade's knife nicked her arm, drawing blood. _

_"Too slow! Try it again!" _

_Jade scoffed and took up her original position. Artemis removed her free hand away from the slice, rubbing the blood off on her worn out jeans before taking her stance. The bright red smear contrasting brightly with the other rusty brown stains that had since dried from the start of the training session. _

_"We're not leaving here until you can dodge this, Artemis," The tall blonde man snarled, his expression void of any emotion. _

_The blonde gave a heavy sigh and held her weapon up once more. _

**_X_**

_"Daddy didn't used to be like this," Artemis spoke quietly, sitting obediently as Jade wrapped up her injuries. _

_"Dad's changed," Her sister snapped. _

_"When's Momma getting back?" She whispered, watching the bedroom door for any shadows, any hints of their father coming nearby, "Why'd she leave us?"_

_"I have a feeling it wasn't her choice," _

**X**

"_Jade!" The blonde yelped, "Jade what are you doing!" Artemis watched her sister with wide eyes, her small hands gripping the window sill as Jade stood on the lower fire escape. _

_"I can't stay here any longer," Her voice was sharp, just as sharp as her eyes, hardened obsidian gems that no longer held any warmth. _

_"Then take me with you!" Artemis pleaded, her eyes growing watery._

_"You'll only slow me down Sis," She answered, turning away from the blonde. _

_"Don't leave me with Dad!" The girl yelped, her throat constricting at the very thought. _

_Jade faced her once more, a sneer across her lips, "That's __**not**__ our Father," _

_And then she was gone. And Artemis closed her eyes, dreaming of a place somewhere, anywhere, where her family could be together again. _

**X**

_Her dream was broken. _

_It would never be possible. _

_Artemis clutched the necklace closer to her heart, her knuckles whitening under the pressure of her grip. It still held her scent, if only barely because it had been hidden away where no one was supposed to find it. The sweet smell of oriental spices that the blonde remembered from childhood still lingered. From before everything became irreparable. _

_She'd always wondered why their Mother left. Paula loved them, she wouldn't have left them. _

_Her __**real**__ Father couldn't have done this. Lawrence had adored their Mother. _

_Artemis let out a heavy breath as her chest split and tore into a multitude of shards. Anger, confusion, grief. _

_Resolution. _

_The blonde opened her palm to gaze upon the necklace once more, her Mother's favorite necklace. A family heirloom, a golden arrow, passed from mother to daughter to provide guidance, even when they weren't physically there to guide you. _

_Paula wouldn't have left without this, not without at least giving it to her or Jade; Artemis was sure. _

_The tears were falling and she couldn't stop them, her view of the golden arrow became obscured. _

_It could mean only one thing. _

_Paula had never made it out. _

**_X_**

_Jade had warned her. _

_She could have said more. But she had said enough. _

_That man was not their Father._

**X**

_Normal solutions were out of the question. Normal solutions only worked on normal problems. _

_This was not normal. _

_The library had provided her with enough information; her mind was stretched thin as she considered every possibility. It took her months to get everything she needed; she only had limited time to sneak away to the books. Training had never stopped; the tests had only become coarser over the years. _

_Artemis had thought of running a few times. When her spirit was crushed, and she was alone. Sweet, sweet freedom was waiting. _

_But her Mother had never gotten that chance. So she needed to get to the bottom of what had happened to her Father. _

**_X_**

_Salt. _

_Salt was the first clue. It had been the first rule. _  
_  
No salt in the house. _

_It had been a jump. It had seemed ridiculous. _

_But if Artemis was wrong, it couldn't hurt. _

**X**

_A devil's trap under the rug caught him. Her Pseudo-Father. _

_"So, you finally figured it out," He sneered, unconcerned with his entrapment. _

_"You killed my Mom," Artemis snapped, a crumpled piece of paper in her hand that she'd painstakingly practiced over the course of a week, the words learned almost by heart. _

_"She'd noticed, so she had to go," The demon was serious now, his mirth gone. _

_"Why did you do this?" The blonde asked, her arms shaking in anger as she attempted to keep herself in check. The room around her had turned into a mess, the trap had been under his seat at the dinner table and anything within reach had been thrown. Artemis had been lucky enough to dodge it all due to his own training. _

_"Let's just say my superiors would like to chat with me about something, but I would prefer that we didn't," He glared, "And I would have had two bodyguards if you and your stupid sister hadn't turned against me," _

_Artemis breathed heavily, yanking her hand up and unfurling the paper that she'd stuffed into her fist, "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus," _

_The demon convulsed slightly, his frown turning into a snarl, "No matter what, you're not gonna win Little Girl," _

_"Don't call me that," Artemis hissed, "Only my Dad can call me that,"_

_"omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica," The blonde continued, reveling in the struggles of the demon as the words took effect. _

_He bent over in pain briefly, and when Artemis had stopped for the next line, he began laughing. A grating, horrible noise that made her stand up straighter and hope that she had enunciated everything correctly. She glanced down at the paper to check the next lines, "You're not getting him back, Bitch," The demon laughed. _

_"Like Hell I'm not!" Artemis shouted, "Ergo, draco maledicte!" _

_"Say goodbye to Daddy!" He yelled, pulling a knife out of his boot. _

_"NO!" She screamed, her chest constricting as she spluttered out the next lines, "Ecclesiam tuam s-securi tibi facias libertat-te servire!" _

_He plunged the knife into his stomach without hesitation, a feral grin carved into his features as Artemis ran forward, the last of the exorcism hanging on her lips. _

_"DAD! NO! TE ROGAMUS-"_

**X**

"-_AUDI NOS!_" Artemis screamed, her eyes flying open amidst the tears. Her hands reached out, latching onto someone.

"Artemis! Artemis!"

Her mind settled into reality, her unfocused eyes searching out the frantic face of Wally. He was leaning over her, his hands gripping tightly onto her upper arms, his bright green eyes wide with concern.

"_Wally_," She whispered, relaxing her grasp on his shirt and blinking away most of her tears.

"It was a dream," He explained, one of his hands letting go to push the stray bangs out of her face, his thumb brushing lightly across her cheek, "It was just a dream, Artemis,"

The blonde choked out a breath and shook her head, sitting up with his assistance. Her throat was still dry and constricted, "It wasn't a dream," She wiped a hand across her face, "It was a memory,"

Wally was quiet for a moment before he settled onto the mattress next to her, curling his arms around her torso and pulling her against him, moving her legs to rest across his own, "I'm sorry," He whispered, petting her tangled hair as Artemis hesitantly wound around him, pillowing her cheek into his chest and settling into his warmth.

The minutes ticked by slowly as the two relaxed into each other, Artemis tilting her head into Wally's hand as he began carding his fingers through her hair gently, consoling her. She smiled, marveling that he hadn't asked her what her dream was about and supposing that _yes_, he was much smarter than she sometimes thought. It was times like these that he reminded her just how perceptive he could be. Artemis hadn't told him her story, and as she was secure in his arms, she wondered why.

"My Mom...left when I was a child," Artemis spoke up quietly, curling herself into Wally as she began, "Or, that's what my Dad said. But he was lying. He trained my sister and me, day and night. Taught us how to fight, how to kill, how to survive. My sister left eventually, she couldn't take it anymore. Couldn't take...him. When I was fifteen I found my mother's necklace," Artemis pulled at a golden chain around her neck that the redhead had never noticed before, untucking it from beneath her shirt. It was a delicate golden arrow, with one green gem embedded in the tip. "She wouldn't have left without it, it was her most prized possession besides her family,"

Wally ducked to press his cheek against the top of her head, one of his warm hands still running through her long hair, soothing her as she spoke while the other wrapped around her, holding her close.

"He killed her," Artemis said hoarsely, "I found her necklace and I just _knew_. I knew she wasn't coming back. And I knew something was wrong with my Father," She clenched the pendant in her fist, "I did research until I figured it out, it took months because I didn't know what I was doing. But I got it eventually. It was a demon. My Dad was possessed, it probably happened only a few weeks before he killed my Mom. I got him in a devil's trap, I had the exorcism fucking _memorized_,"

Her grey eyes glazed over as her memories resurfaced, vivid from her dream. The only thing keeping her grounded was the arms around her, Wally's hand running through her hair. Reminding her that she wasn't alone any longer.

"The demon stabbed himself before I finished the exorcism. My Dad died in my arms,"

It was silent for a few moments. Artemis breathing slowly as she regained composure from reliving her nightmare.

"I haven't dreamed about it in a while," She mused, still resting in Wally's arms.

"So that's how you got into the job," Wally whispered, scooting the both of them back until he could lean against the headboard of Artemis's bed.

"Yeah, before I took off I found some journals that the demon had written. There was information on a bunch of different monsters. I used that when I started out. I wanted to help people. People like me, who had no idea what they were up against. People who don't know what's out there," She had tensed as she spoke, some of her residing anger building once more as she thought of what had occurred, and of the many other's she'd discovered along her path.

"Relax Art," Wally said softly, pulling her closer and tightening his grip, "You've helped a lot of people. Don't forget that, okay? You're great at what you do, you're a hero and you don't even get any recognition. That takes a kind of resolve that most people don't have. Don't dwell on what you've lost, build on it, and let it turn you into a better person. You've already been doing it for years, don't forget now,"

Artemis smiled, releasing the grip on her Mother's pendant to hold the redhead's hand that had been resting on her waist, "Thank you Wally,"

"You're welcome," He breathed, leaning his head back to rest against the headboard, "Now go back to bed, Beautiful, I'll keep the nightmares away,"

"Yeah," She laughed, situating herself to better rest against him, "I bet you will,"

"Don't mock me," Wally mumbled halfheartedly, his mind already drifting off.

Artemis snuggled into him, a smile still lingering, "I would never..."

* * *

When Wally awoke, he thought that he was still in a dream. He was lying on Artemis's bed in the motel, his body parallel to the headboard, which explained the cramp that was prominent in his folded legs.

But it might also have been the blonde cuddled up to his side, restricting his movement.

Artemis was tucked into his arms, her legs following the curve of his own and her hands wrapped gently around the freckled arm that was lying across her stomach, pulling her close.

Wally took in the moment slowly, imprinting it into his mind so that he could recall it later. Most times of the day he would describe Artemis as bold and aggressive. A _spitfire_.

But at that moment, with the sun barely filtering through the dusty blinds and turning her hair into spilt gold spreading across the sheets, with her light breaths ghosting across the skin of his neck, and with her warm body draped along the length of his own.

In that delicate, rare moment, Artemis was _soft_.

Wally had long since relented his mind to the veritable belief that the blonde was exquisitely beautiful, in body and mind. He'd given up trying to deny it to himself. However through their adventures, no matter how close they'd become, Artemis had always felt _intangible_. A flame that he couldn't possibly reach, no matter how desperately he longed to; not to capture or to tame. But just to hold, to admire and care for.

He had feared that it would continue forever. The chase to reach her heart. That Artemis truly was too wild a flame to keep up with.

But in that precious moment, that one beautiful morning, Wally found hope. Artemis was still curled against him and he brushed a stray strand of golden hair away from her face. The night before she had confided in him, trusted him, and had accepted his comfort. Her soul had worn out from her explanations and was resting upon his own for balance. In his arms she was no longer a flame, but rather a glowing ember; entrusting _him _to fan the blaze and return her to her usual fire.

Artemis had given him a glimpse into another part of her. A fragile measure of herself that had previously been locked away from sight. And it gave him hope that his dreams might not have been as elusive as he first believed.

He was slowly learning what lay beyond her aggressive exterior.

Wally was learning that Artemis was not a flame, but rather an inferno. A magnificent inferno full of intricacies that he could have never anticipated.

And how he loved her for it.

He wasn't sure when it had begun; when the admiration and affection had spread to his heart.

But as he'd worked with her, fought with her, lived with her, and held her in his arms. As he'd awoken to her sight and her scent...it had become irreversible.

Undeniable.

Wally West had fallen in love with Artemis Crock.

* * *

**This is big you guys! This is a big step towards bringing them together!**

**Please review and let me know what you think! What did you think of Artemis's backstory? Why do you think she's terrified of her growing feelings toward Wally?**

**Expect another chapter this weekend!**

**_Love,_ Veg**


	13. Garfield

**Get ready for some action! And here all the characters will be revealed!**

* * *

Artemis had recently returned from the gun shop with their needed ammo when a sharp knocking startled the two hunters out of their amiable chat.

"Do you-?" She started.

"I have no idea," Wally rose his eyebrows, tucking his gun into the back of his pants before heading over to the door. There wasn't any peephole so they couldn't tell who was waiting on the other side, "Should I?" He questioned, turning back to glance at the blonde.

Artemis shrugged, sad that their calm day of preparation had been deemed cut short. She'd slept extremely well leaning up against Wally, despite the crick in her neck that she'd gotten by the stupid position he'd put her it after she fell asleep. She refused to admit to herself that she'd hoped he would have slept with her the whole night. But Artemis had woken up alone in her bed, pulled from her sleep by the sound of her partner in the shower.

Wally opened the motel door hesitantly, peeking around the edge to check before he opened it all the way, "Megan?"

The red haired woman flew into the room with a flourish of arms, the epitome of distress, "Wally! Artemis! It's terrible!" She shrieked.

The blonde jogged over to question her but before she could say anything Megan had thrown her arms around her neck and squeezed her tight, her tears soaking into Artemis's shirt collar, "What happened?" Artemis asked, patting the woman's back awkwardly as Wally hovered around them with concern. She waved him back with a frown before coaxing Megan out of her death grip.

"It's my best friend, Marie, she's _dead_," Megan cried, her eyes bright red from tears, "It was the skinwalkers! I just know it!"

"What makes you say that?" Wally asked, resting his hand on her shoulder to calm her down while Artemis went to close the door.

"Marie's son, Garfield, is missing. No one can find him!"

The duo shared a look, confirming that they'd both had the same thought.

"Megan, how about we sit down?" Artemis offered, leading the woman to the edge of Wally's bed. She nodded sadly and did so, folding her hands delicately in her lap as she held in her sobs.

"Do you have a picture of Garfield?" Wally asked, pulling up the two chairs they had for him and Artemis to sit near her.

Megan frowned, wiping away her most recent tears, "Uh, yeah, why?" She asked, reaching into her cardigan pocket to pull out her phone.

"Well-"

"We might have seen him last night," Artemis spoke up bluntly.

"Really!?" Megan gasped, clutching her open phone to her chest. Wally sent the blonde an incredulous look that was ignored.

"We were scouting out potential hideouts and witnessed the skinwalkers bringing a boy into what we assume is their headquarters," Artemis explained with a frown.

The woman gulped down her tears and held out her cell phone for the two to see, the screen glowing and revealing a picture of Megan and a young boy hugging and smiling widely. The blonde looked to Wally to break the news once they'd both seen it.

Wally cleared his throat, gesturing to Megan that they didn't need to see the picture any longer, "Uh, Megs,"

"You saw Gar?" She asked quietly, her eyes focused on the worn down carpet she was rubbing the toes of her flats into nervously.

The redhead nodded, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure,"

"He seemed unharmed," Artemis spoke up hesitantly.

"You need to get him back!" Megan straightened up, speaking boldly, her eyes growing fierce.

"We will," Wally answered confidently, standing up to stride across the room and grabbing a couple of empty magazines. He tossed one to Artemis, who caught it easily, and walked back over to sit down with a box of ammo.

"Here," Artemis said, offering the woman an empty magazine, "Fill 'er up, the sooner we get stocked up, the sooner we can go raid that building,"

Megan's mouth dropped open at the heavy metal object, her hands shaking at its touch, "I, I don't know how,"

The blonde frowned in surprise, but Wally beat her to assisting the distressed woman.

"It's pretty simple," He gave her a small smile, taking the magazine from her trembling hands and grabbing a single bullet from the ammo box, "You just take the bullet and slide it in at the top here, the mechanisms will move it down when you put more in. Just keep adding them in the same direction until it's full," He explained, putting the first bullet in as an example. Megan nodded silently and obediently continued the process.

"So, Megan," Artemis started, catching the shapeshifter's attention, "Tell us about Garfield,"

Megan's sour mood dissipated instantly as she began gushing about the boy, "Gar is wonderful, I met his mother at work and she invited me over for dinner. He's a very active boy and he loves to explore and help others. Whenever we go out, Marie and I have to keep a sharp eye on him because he'll rush over to people that need help with something without saying anything! We lose him _all _the time!"

She continued for a little while, chatting away as the trio worked. Finally Wally cleared his throat, pausing her in her speech, "I think we're ready to go," He announced. Megan looked to Artemis for confirmation and the blonde nodded in agreement.

"The sun is setting, that's our cue. All the skinwalkers will be in the headquarters before they go out and do their nightly thing," She explained, getting up and pulling on her favorite leather jacket. Wally solemnly grabbed his various silver knives and placed them away for an easy grab.

"Let's head out," Wally stated, halting at the door. Megan stood awkwardly in the middle of the motel room as Artemis walked past, the blonde still stuffing weapons away, "You too Megan,"

"But I can't kill anyone!" She gasped, looking horrified at the thought.

"Then it will be good for you to be there when we get Garfield out. He'll be confused," The redhead suggested.

Megan halted for a moment, considering, before finally nodding and rushing to join the two at the door. Her heart hammering in her chest.

* * *

"You know, they wouldn't be able to kill you," Artemis pointed out as the three of them sat in the hunter's stolen car, waiting for the right moment to charge, "Skinwalkers and shapeshifters have the same vulnerabilities, and it's unlikely that they'll have anything on them that could be used to kill themselves,"

"That's not the problem," Megan shook her head, sitting lower in the backseat, "I don't want to hurt anyone," She whispered, her eyes turned away.

"That's fine," Wally spoke up from the passenger seat, "But take this, and if any of them escape, just hold them at gunpoint until we can get to you,"

Megan nodded lightly, placing the heavy gun he handed her gently on the seat, "Good luck," She whispered.

"Thanks," Wally said, glancing at the blonde before the two simultaneously exited the car.

The two had the art of raiding a building down pretty well after having been hunting together for over four months. They had a strategy created based on their comforts in battle. Wally was faster and much better at close combat, so he would always go first. Artemis was a perfect shot and would come second, taking out anyone in sight and keeping an eye out on Wally for anyone attempting to sneak up on him.

As they crossed the street to their chosen entrance to the building, the two fist bumped. Artemis smirked at Wally's grin.

"Watch my back?" He asked, rather rhetorically.

"I always am," Artemis rolled her eyes, stopping outside the door and checking the handle to ensure it was unlocked. She nodded silently in affirmation and stood aside so that the redhead could enter first.

He opened the door slowly, ensuring that it would make no sound, and stepped into the darkness with light feet, Artemis following right on his heels, their weapons both drawn. They both knew that the first shot would start bringing others. The first shot was always the most nerve racking part of the hunt.

"Two o'clock," Artemis whispered from her place at Wally's side, aiming her gun at the skinwalker who was gearing up on the other side of a storage rack. Wally nodded silently and strode ahead a bit before Artemis took the shot.

The noise echoed in the metal filled establishment and the man dropped with a thud. A scuttle occurred in the distance and Artemis steadied her gun on the storage room entrance that Wally didn't have covered.

Another man ran into the room through the door Wally was standing by, falling quickly at the redhead's shot. Artemis turned away from her own post and went to follow her partner a he made his way farther into the building. The stale smell of blood was already filling the air and the two knew it wouldn't be long before the numbers surrounding them rose.

Wally took the hallway slowly, checking each room he passed as Artemis waited with her gun trained on the far end. Two more skinwalkers got taken out by his gun as he charged the rooms, their enhanced speed not nearly up to par with the redhead and his trigger reflexes. Two more came from the opposite end of the hallway and the blonde was able to take one out without blinking, while the other ducked into a room.

Artemis strode ahead while Wally was clearing another room, his shots ringing out and filling the air with the hint of gunpowder and blood. She halted outside the entrance, aware that the skinwalker who had hidden knew she was there. The blonde grit her teeth before turning on her heel and darting into the room. It was an office of some sorts and there weren't many places to hide behind.

Which is why the skinwalker had staged himself to catch her as she entered.

They fell to the floor with a scuttle of dirt and limbs, Artemis snarling as he grabbed her gun hand and pinned it to the floor. She felt a sharp sting as they fell and when she saw his hand she realized that he'd nicked her forehead with a hunting knife. He brought it down quickly to stab her, his eyes sharp and feral. Artemis twisted her torso and kicked him away, using her other arm to knock his knife hand off track and causing it to collide against the concrete floor with a dull crack. He tipped and the blonde used his momentum to propel herself sideways, however his grip on her gun hand was still tight and they ended up rolling along the floor. Artemis's shoulder jarred painfully against the edge of a metal desk and she made a harsh attempt to overpower his grip and get a shot in.

However the skinwalker managed to keep his strength and her bullet hit the ceiling, shattering one of the tiles and bringing it falling down onto his back. He grunted from the blow before slamming his knee into Artemis's leg in frustration and desperation, "Fucking Bitch!" He growled.

"Speak for yourself," She snarled back, using the desk she was still being pressed against to push off and tip him. The blonde ripped her wrist away from his grip while he was unfocused, aiming her gun at his chest.

Suddenly a shot rang out, and the skinwalker was bleeding out onto the floor.

Artemis startled, whipping her head up to find Wally standing at the door, his gun raised, "I had him!" She exclaimed, pulling herself off of the floor and strutting over to her partner.

The redhead's eyes were narrowed a dark, his face grim, "I don't care," He snapped, and Artemis was reminded of the way he would get sometimes. The way his attitude changed while they were fighting a creature, or many. His muscles were tense and his reflexes sharp, Artemis often thought that he could dart away to any part of the world, whenever he wanted, as quick as he wanted, with all the speed he could muster to his feet. His hair was pushed back and wild from the running he'd been doing already from their raid, "The hallway is all clear," He said gruffly.

"Why'd you take my shot?" She asked, her tone stern. It was the only way to speak to him when he got that way; with his blood pumping, his muscles wired to react at any moment.

His gaze was sharp when she caught it, and Artemis suddenly felt very conscious of the dirt and grime that she'd gotten all over herself as she'd wrestled the skinwalker, while Wally was still clear of any sign of a scuffle, "Because he made you bleed," Wally growled, his voice low, his grim face softening for the barest of moments as he drew his hand up to brush his thumb across her forehead, showing the blonde the residual blood from his touch.

"I don't need an avenger," Artemis told him, keeping the corner of her eye trained on the door for any stragglers.

"No, but you should stick to the plan," Wally shot back, "I'm supposed to be ahead, I'm faster than you are,"

Artemis said nothing for the moment, regrettably understanding his reasoning. Wally would have been fast enough to catch the skinwalker hiding out in the room, while she had been overpowered by the man's enhanced speed. She almost disliked their strategy, even though it had saved her ass a few times already.

"Let's go," She grumbled out, walking past the redhead and back into the hallway. Wally said nothing as he took her side, understanding easily that the blonde disliked being watched out for.

"I think this was the staging area," Wally whispered as they reached the end of the hallway, jerking his thumb back towards the hallway of offices. The two crept along the edge of the large industrial room quietly, searching for any more skinwalkers.

"And it was staging time," Artemis mused, "We got lucky,"

"Are there more of you?" A regal voice rang out across the room, startling the duo into turning towards the sound.

There was one woman standing in the very middle of the room, and locked in her arms with a knife against his throat, was Garfield.

Wally and Artemis walked toward her with their guns raised, eyes darting around to check for any further creatures.

"Do not bother," The woman snapped, "And do not come any closer, lower your guns or I kill the boy," Her tone was vicious and her grip on the knife was no bluff. She had dark skin and a scowl across her painted lips, her wrists and neck covered in broad gold jewelry. They did as she told, reluctantly.

"Garfield, it's going to be okay," Wally spoke up, a small smile forced onto his face. Garfield's eyes widened in surprise at the sound of his name, confusion blossoming.

"It is _not_!" The woman shrilled, "You have murdered them all!"

"And you're next," Artemis smirked confidently.

"Me? You cannot kill me," She laughed loudly, "I am their _Queen_. Queen Beatrix. I _will_survive and my plan will continue in another city,"

"What was your plan?" Wally asked, his eyebrows furrowed, "Because it wasn't really working,"

"It was, until that _idiot _Grodd started killing people," Beatrix raved, "We were stealing the children of the city. The plan was to turn them and give them back after time, children would not be refused and eventually through ignorance and childish foolishness our kind would spread," She explained proudly, unaffected by the knife she was still holding tightly against Garfield's neck.

"Well you won't be getting any more chances," Artemis told Beatrix, her expression blank although her tone was confident.

Beatrix only looked confused for a moment, but it only took a moment for the bullet to lodge in her brain.

Wally raced forward as the woman fell, his speed allowing him to retrieve a hysterical Garfield from her dead grasp before she hit the ground. The boy latched onto Wally's shirt and the redhead held him close as he gasped out sobs.

"Megan," Artemis called, walking forward slowly toward the red haired woman, "Megan, you can put the gun down now," She held her hand out. Megan was frozen in place, shaking slightly, the gun still pointed at where Beatrix had stood, tears falling freely.

"I-" She started, her voice cracking. Megan's eyes darted to Artemis's, and then to the gun, "Oh God! I-"

"You saved Garfield," Artemis put in; stepping close enough to gently take the gun from the woman's grasp. Megan shook slightly and Artemis helped her to her knees, understanding that she wouldn't have been able to stand much longer, "It's alright Megan. You did the right thing," She continued, wrapping an arm around her trembling shoulders.

"But I-"

"Megan!" Garfield called out. Wally had calmed the boy down enough to point out his savior, and the boy ran straight to her, "Megan!"

"Oh! Gar!" Megan cried, enveloping the boy in her arms when he reached her, "Gar I was so worried!"

"I wasn't," He assured her with a still quivering voice, "I knew you would find me,"

"Let's get you guys home," Artemis said, still glancing around the building, "Someone was bound to call in all the shots,"

Megan nodded and the two hunters helped her and Garfield stand, both of their nerves shot.

* * *

**Garfield has been saved! Yay!**

**Please review to let me know what you think.**

**_Love_, Veg**


	14. Adoption

**I am so so so so so so so so sorry that this chapter is so short! I thought I had more before the hunt ended which is why I paced the chapters the way I did. I would have spread it out better if I'd known. **

**That being said, please enjoy the last little snippet of this hunt. I hope to have the next chapter (the start of the next hunt) posted by Sunday, but because of holiday plans (being out of town and hanging with family and such) I have very little time to work on this. So as much as I hate it, the next chapter might be posted next Wednesday. I am really sorry about this and I wish I could fix it but I'm doing the very best I can to keep this on a decent posting schedule. Thank you so much for all of your continued support!**

* * *

Wally accepted the mug of hot cocoa eagerly, mumbling a thank you as Megan settled down into her couch. Artemis, Wally, Megan, and Conner were all seated in the couple's living room once more, the lights dark and the sounds of the city nightlife trickling in. A few bandages laid on the coffee table, and Wally set his mug down in favor of assisting Artemis tend to her head wound.

After ensuring that the other children were in the building, unharmed, they had gone immediately to Megan and Conner's apartment. The police would soon arrive from the sound of the gunshots and the children would be safely returned to their families, with no description of what Wally or Artemis looked like. Conner had made them all hot cocoa to calm himself down when he learned that his wife had gone after murderers and kidnappers and the duo had sat obediently on the couch while Megan put Gar to bed in the guest bedroom. Conner eventually settled and the group had resorted to sitting quietly and thinking about the future for Garfield.

Garfield had informed them all on the drive that he was not entirely unharmed. The skinwalkers had turned him, and the boy could since turn into a spider monkey. However he seemed to find this development entirely enjoyable.

The problem lied in the late Marie Logan. Garfield no longer had any parents and would be thrown into the system. Megan had chosen not to inform him of her death as of yet, although she suspected that he was already aware.

"We could take him," Conner spoke up abruptly, dissipating the silence that had settled among them, "We were already trying to adopt," He explained.

"Conner, are you sure?" Megan asked lightly.

The man smiled, "You were already thinking it," He said causing Megan to blush with guilt, "And who could be better than a kid we already know. Gar needs a family right now, and no one else will understand his...development," Conner frowned, unsure of how to describe Garfield's new inhuman qualities.

"It would be best for him, wouldn't it?" Megan said. Conner wrapped his arm around her, turning to the two hunters across from them.

"Thank you, for saving Gar and the other children," He told them gratefully.

"We wouldn't have found them without Megan's help," Wally smiled, his features falling momentarily when he observed that he had drank the last of his beverage. Artemis silently switched mugs with him and he smiled sheepishly at her. The blonde just rolled her eyes and smirked.

"And we'll give you all the information we have on skinwalkers," Artemis said, "Just leave me your address and I'll have it mailed,"

"That would be wonderful," Megan sighed, "I am glad you two arrived, I hope you'll keep in touch?" She asked wistfully.

Artemis shifted slightly in her chair, knowing that she would likely not have time to contact the woman in the future.

"Of course we will," Wally assured her, bumping his knee slightly into the blondes.

"But we'll need to leave town tomorrow, we can't be around for the investigation," Artemis explained.

"We understand," Conner nodded.

"And we'll call you if anything else _interesting _comes our way," Megan smiled.

"Well," Wally sighed, leaning back into the couch and sipping the last of Artemis's hot cocoa, a content smile spreading across his features, "That's our job,"

* * *

**I'm sorry this chapter was so shorrttt! **

**Please review and let me know what you think! Did you see Garfield's adoption coming?**

**Have a lovely holiday!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	15. A Call for Help

Hello everyone! I am SO sorry that it has taken me so long to get this up! It's like a week late! Augh! I warned you guys that it might be late, but I wasn't expecting it to be THIS late. Spending holiday time with relatives and going out of town for holiday stuff gave me almost ZERO time to work on this hunt. Luckily I had it half finished before the holiday busy stuff started. I finally got to start working on it again Thursday and here we are! This hunt is over 12,000 words and I'm super excited to share it because it's fabulous. I'm super proud.

Thank you so much for sticking out this lateness! I'll be posting another chapter Wednesday!

* * *

Artemis gave a great sigh of exasperation when she saw her partner start heading back down the aisle, the blonde leaning on the rickety metal cart and glancing down at its already full contents with a frown.

"Look what I got!" Wally sang excitedly, dropping his latest find in the shopping cart, "There's a sale on frozen pizzas!"

"Wally we can't buy frozen pizzas," Artemis deadpanned, already walking the cart back to the aisle she assumed he'd gotten them from, "And even if we _could _we wouldn't be buying ten of them,"

"What do you have against pizza?" The redhead frowned, easily keeping up.

"We don't have a freezer to keep them in, nor do we have an oven to cook them in," She explained, stopping the cart when they reached the frozen pizza section and gesturing for him to put them back.

Wally stood still for a moment, shifting back and forth on his feet with a dejected look about his face. He finally put them back after a nudge from the woman, his shoulders sunken sadly.

They began walking again and Wally's attitude brightened instantly, "Arty!"

"No ice cream bars,"

He nodded in understanding and Artemis eyed him carefully. There was no other time when Wally became more unpredictable than at the grocery store. It was as if he de-aged fifteen years the moment he walked through the doors. The redhead's posture straightened abruptly and Artemis grabbed his arm as he took a step toward the chicken nuggets.

"But-"

"Wally the only thing left to get is milk and first aid supplies. We have enough food in the cart already," She explained, looping her arm tightly around his to keep him by her side as they made their way down the breakfast aisle. He had a weakness for everything, which included bacon and waffles.

"Did we get chips?" He asked, looking down to match his foot strides with the blonde because he knew it bothered her.

"You picked up like four bags," She sighed, frowning down at their synched steps. Wally grinned.

"How about peanut butter?"

"And jelly,"

"And-"

"_And _honey," She continued, unable to resist a smirk at the way she was able to guess what he was going to say, "Grab a gallon?" Artemis pointed.

Wally did as she asked, pulling two gallons of milk out of the refrigerated shelves. She rolled her eyes at the double order but didn't say anything, relieved that he hadn't tried to snatch a bottled smoothie when she wasn't looking.

But when they reached the end of the aisle Artemis realized why the redhead had grown less mischievous. _The pharmacy section_. It was a constant battle.

Wally was gone before she could tighten her grip or raise her voice, "Damn him," Artemis scowled.

It had taken merely two weeks of joining Artemis on the job for Wally to notice her horrible tendency to not care for her own injuries. If it was small enough for a band aid, no band aid would be used. If she needed stitches, she would use butterfly bandages. He wasn't entirely sure _why _the blonde was so terrible at self-first aid. Whenever he got hurt she would assist him with the skill of a practiced nurse, Wally knew that she wasn't dumb. It was just neglect.

So the redhead had taken it upon himself to ensure that she didn't ignore any of her wounds. She would fight him all the way, of course, cussing and squirming like it was poison.

He picked up two different brands of burn balm, turning them over to compare. Their last encounter had them up against a vampire in a factory and one small misstep in battle had Artemis catching herself on a scorching hot pipe. The burn on her arm hadn't been any worse than first degree, but Wally could still hear her hissing at the pain while she was getting dressed in the bathroom.

Wally sighed, choosing one product and grabbing some extra gauze for good measure. He hated that it was always the blonde getting hurt. No matter what he tried, she always got the brunt of the injuries after a battle. He supposed it was largely because of his inherited speed. No one could catch him to get a hit in. They could catch Artemis, and she always held her own. Long distance or short distance, it didn't matter. She could take them down, but she didn't always escape unscathed.

As he was walking back to the cart, Artemis's annoyed glare piercing into the burn balm in his hand, Wally wonder if she could take him down.

The blonde had more experience and was a much better shot, but Wally was faster and stronger.

Artemis would win. He decided quickly. There would be no competition; Wally would never be able to bring himself to hurt her.

Wally had just reached her when his phone began ringing in his pocket. He gave Artemis a glance but she shrugged in confusion. He flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Wally! Where are you guys?" Dick's voice came through the phone, sounding a bit panicked.

"Uh," The redhead paused, "Atlanta, Georgia. I think," He looked to Artemis, who nodded as she pushed the cart to the checkout. Wally followed, walking as he talked.

"Kal was right, that's only like two hours-" He mumbled quickly.

"Dick?" Wally cut him off. Artemis slapped his hand when he reached for the candy at the register and he sneered at her.

"I need you guys to come to Columbus, Georgia. It's a two hour drive, but I need your help,"

"What's up? You and Bruce okay?" Wally questioned.

"Not entirely, just head over here. Call me when you get close and I'll tell you our motel name. Don't waste time, okay?" He told him.

Wally was going to ask another question, but Dick had hung up after he finished speaking. Artemis handed him some of the bags of food and he followed her toward the exit.

"What's going on?" She asked, concern etched into her features.

"He wouldn't tell me, but it sounds like they're in trouble," Wally frowned, "They're in Columbus, it's about two hours from here,"

"And he needs us right away?" Artemis checked, dropping the food unceremoniously in the trunk. Wally followed suit. Her normal annoyance at being pulled off a case wasn't present.

Dick and Bruce _never_ asked for help. And they were asking for _immediate _assistance.

"We better head out," She declared.

* * *

Wally closed his phone with a snap and pointed to the upcoming intersection, "Dick says to take a left here, it will be the first motel on the right,"

"Finally," Artemis sighed squinting through the glare of eager drivers' sunset headlights to try and see the street name. The two had driven for far longer trips and destinations, but Wally easily understood why the blonde was worn out. It had been a very long two hours, conversation was scarce because both were thinking up worst case scenarios that they would be arriving to. Although neither would voice them out loud.

After they'd parked at the motel it was a silent decision to get a room before taking on 'The Bats' as the Gotham duo was often called in the hunter society.

Wally let out a wide yawn as they got out of the car and Artemis grabbed his arm before he tripped over the sidewalk. He gave her a smile in thanks and they headed into the motel office.

"Hi we'd like a room," Artemis spoke up as soon as she'd entered. Wally began digging their credit card out of his pocket.

"Artemis! Wally!"

The two turned to see a woman jogging toward them, having just come through the side door to the office. She had dark black hair and dramatic sapphire eyes, a smile blooming across her face.

"Zatanna!" Artemis gasped, opening her arms immediately to embrace her, "Dick didn't say you were here," She said after the woman released her from a tight hug.

Zatanna smirked, "Of course he didn't. How are you?" She asked, fondness in her voice, "I haven't seen you in _forever_,"

As Artemis playfully complained Wally silently handed the credit card over to the manager, allowing the two to catch up.

"You must be the infamous Wally West," Zatanna spoke up louder, catching the redhead's attention as she turned to face him, "I'm Zatanna Zatara,"

Wally smiled and reached his hand out for a handshake while Artemis retrieved their credit card and room key, "I'll admit, I don't know as much about you as you probably know about me. Artemis did know she needed to debrief me. But it's nice to meet you,"

"Don't you worry," Zatanna crooned, "Artemis wouldn't have been able to do me justice. Dick's told me _all _about you," She grinned.

Wally faltered, "Uh, all about me, huh?" He laughed nervously.

Artemis laughed loudly, "Oh I can't wait to talk to the troll," She said, nudging Wally slightly with a mischievous look.

"Yeah we should probably go to our room before Dick blows a gasket waiting," Zatanna snickered.

"What's up? He sounded really panicked over the phone," Wally asked, following the two girls out of the office.

"It's better if he tells you, but there is a big problem. One he's never faced before," Zatanna told them, her tone growing more serious.

Artemis and Wally shared a look as they stopped at the door, Zatanna turning the key before letting them in.

"Finally you're here!" Dick exclaimed the moment they were in sight, his dark hair messier than usual and his baby blue eyes tinted red with lack of sleep. Zatanna closed the door as he rushed them, crushing Artemis in a tight hug, his tall form smothering her. The blonde snickered into his shirt and hugged him back, already used to his close contact welcomes. Dick had always been a hugger.

"We left right after you called," Wally said, a smile on his face, "It's good to finally meet you in person, man,"

Dick pulled away from Artemis and turned to the redhead, a grin in place, "It's so cool, dude," He agreed. Wally held out his hand for a dude-shake but laughed when he got a hug as well.

After Dick finished the welcomes his smile fell and grave features took its place, "We have a big problem,"

"Well we're here now, so what's up?" Artemis asked as he led them into the room, everyone taking seats in various places. Dick kept standing, leaning against the motel table.

"It's Bruce," He grit out, "He's been captured, taken by a vetala,"

"A vetala?" Wally questioned, having actually never heard of the creature.

"They're pretty rare," Artemis mused, explaining to the redhead why they'd never gone over them.

"Vetalas are creatures that have fangs and claws but can look completely human; they take victims and drink their blood over the course of a few days. They're very strong and their venom can paralyze anyone," Zatanna explained, "I was hunting one but I couldn't find it, so I called in Bruce and Dick. They came down and this is what happened," She shrugged guiltily, her eyes trained on the floor.

"We had split up in different sections of the city to look for a common connection between the victims, looking for a bar or restaurant or something that all of the victims were at. But Bruce never came back,"

"So we only have a few days tops to find him," Wally sighed, running a hand through his hair, "But we do know that the vetala is based out of the section of the city Bruce was searching,"

"We should search that part of the city, like Bruce was. He found it that way," Artemis suggested.

"But that's exactly how Bruce got captured," Zatanna cut in sharply.

"We can go in pairs," Dick spoke up.

"How do you kill a vetala?" Wally asked, resting his elbows against his knees.

"A silver knife," Zatanna said, pulling out one of her own, "You stab it in the heart, but you have to twist the knife or it won't do anything but disorient them,"

"That's weird," The redhead frowned.

"Don't start analyzing it," Artemis narrowed her eyes at her partner, "You can study the scientific aspects of them after its dead," Wally wrinkled his nose in displeasure.

Dick let out a small laugh, "Are you guys too tired to head out tonight?"

"I'm fine now, I've woken up," Wally said, turning to Artemis.

She shrugged, "Yeah I can head out,"

"I call Artemis," Zatanna declared loudly, throwing her arm in the air for emphasis.

Wally rose an eyebrow and the blonde laughed.

"Then I get Wally," Dick counted with a glare.

"And we don't get a say," Wally deadpanned. Artemis gave him a halfhearted punch to the arm.

"Alright, let's go now and not waste any time," Dick decided, standing up straight and heading over to his collection of weapons.

"Check in with us every half hour," Wally said, turning to the two women.

"Sure thing, but we'll switch back and forth. We'll call you and then you call us the next half hour," Artemis told him.

"Uh, I guess that's fine," The redhead frowned in confusion, not entirely sure what the benefit of the plan was.

"Just don't forget to call me," Artemis smirked.

"I won't," He smiled.

Zatanna stood silently next to the two hunters, a smile growing before she grabbed the blonde, "Alright, we're heading out. We'll take the north part,"

"Stay safe," Dick called.

"You too Stud!" Zatanna laughed.

* * *

**Tada! Special Guest stars for this hunt? Zatanna, Dick, and Bruce! Are you excited? What do you think I made Zatanna, if anything? **

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	16. Interrogation

**Welcome to chapter 16! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it's pretty cute (I think). **

* * *

"So tell me _everything_," Zatanna smiled mischievously, hanging onto on of Artemis's arms as they walked down the city street looking for possible businesses where the victims might have been taken from.

Artemis flushed, "There's nothing to tell, what are you talking about?"

"Oh don't give me that," The woman scoffed, "You took a partner. A _male_ partner. And he's _hott_!"

"Zee!" She bristled.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Zatanna laughed, holding her hands up in surrender, "I'm not planning to take him away from you. I'm just saying, _objectively,_ you know, he's really fucking attractive,"

"Hey what about that place?" Artemis questioned, pointing to a bar across the street.

Zatanna gave it a hard glance before waving it off, "That's a male gay bar. The victims are of mostly female and vetalas are usually female,"

"Fair enough," Artemis nodded, "So what about you and Dick? Still flirting around the subject," She teased.

"Of _course _we are," She rolled her eyes, "We've gone on a few dates but he refuses to turn it into anything serious because we barely get to see each other. He seems to think that I'm some hotty flirt that can get anyone I want,"

"But you _are _a flirt that can get anyone you want," Artemis pointed out with a smirk.

"But I want _him!_And he's under the impression that I want to be some sort of free bird so he won't take our relationship any further," Zatanna huffed.

"So be _you _and take things into your own hands. Ask him to be your boyfriend or something. Give him a manly bracelet with your name on," She shrugged.

"I could do that," Zatanna mused.

"You should," Artemis agreed with a smile.

"And what about Wally?" She asked.

"What about him?" The blonde retorted lightly.

"You can't _not _be living with this guy and be completely oblivious to his great looks," Zatanna explained, a possible restaurant catching her eye before she dismissed it. It was all reservation, not a good place to pick up victims.

"I have noticed his physical appeal," Artemis spoke with a professional lilt to her voice. Zatanna rolled her eyes.

"Dick told me that he makes you laugh, and you _do _seem so much more...relaxed, since I last saw you," Her voice grew soft and sincere, "You seem a lot happier, and I've barely spent any time with you already,"

"He..." The blonde took a long breath, pursing her lips before speaking, "He does make me happy. We aren't a couple, we're just friends," She clarified, "But, yeah, I am happier,"

"Then could you even _imagine_ how happy you could be together?" Zatanna said wistfully, "I barely had to see you two together to notice the not-so-obvious flirting that was going on,"

"Can you even imagine how dangerous that could be?" Artemis retorted, her muscles tensing, "Couples don't last in this gig. They get themselves _killed _trying to save the other," She stated, her voice tight.

They'd stopped walking at this point, Artemis standing stiffly as Zatanna reached for her shoulders and tried to look her in the eyes.

"But wouldn't you rather live your life _with _him instead of someday dying before you've told him you love him? Or having him die without knowing? This life is about living without regrets," Zatanna pushed, "About doing the right thing and knowing that you should embrace what you have while you have it,"

Artemis gave a sad smile, "What are you talking about? I don't love him. And this job is _all _about regrets,"

"Why are you lying to yourself?" Zatanna frowned, "Why are you fighting yourself about this?"

"I'm _not_," Artemis said firmly, a scowl forming on her features.

"Then look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't feel something for Wally. That you don't see yourself with him ten years into the future. That you don't dream of someday leaving this job with him, and starting a normal life," Zatanna said, "Look me in the eyes and tell me that,"

Artemis opened her mouth to retort, but she froze, her eyebrows slowly turning down, "I _can't_," She whispered.

"Good," Zatanna whispered back with a smile, pulling her friend into a hug, "Good. Don't deny yourself happiness,"

The blonde sighed and accepted the hug, her emotions pulling on her heart and making her feel heavy with thoughts.

Zatanna pulled back and looked around at the quiet city, "We've reached the end of our section, and there weren't any possible locations. Let's head back to the motel,"

"We should call Kaldur and get more information on where this vetala might be keeping Bruce," Artemis nodded, happy to push her emotions back behind a mental curtain once more, and glad that Zatanna had realized she'd pushed her enough for one day.

"That sounds like a good idea,"

* * *

The boys were walking briskly along the street, which was Wally's unintentional fault. However Dick didn't complain, the night was cold enough that walking fast kept him warm.

"So, is it okay to ask who Zatanna is?" Wally spoke up, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"Yeah," Dick smiled, "She's kinda special,"

The redhead gave a wide grin to his companion, "You dating her, dude?" He asked, elbowing the man.

"Uh, not exactly," Dick frowned, causing Wally to raise an eyebrow, "We've technically gone on dates, but that's about it," He shrugged.

"Did it not work out?"

"No!" He responded quickly, "No, they were great. I just...I don't think she's looking for something long-term. I think she likes being single," He ran a hand through his hair and let some air filter out through his teeth in frustration.

"Did she tell you that?" Wally scowled, glancing down another street as they passed.

"No, but-"

"Dude, don't wimp out if you like her," He beamed, "As far as I know, most girls _are_ looking for something tangible. And you can _never_rely on anything but explicit information with females. It's too easy to misread them,"

"Since when did you become an expert?" Dick teased, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, "Spending _lots _of time with Artemis?"

The underlying suggestion was obvious and Wally frowned, "High school and college," He explained simply, "And don't objectify her like that," The redhead huffed.

"Wally, you know I would never," Dick defended seriously, "Artemis is like a sister to me. I'm just fishing for information. You haven't updated me in a while," He shrugged, getting out his phone to make a note of a bar they passed. They could cross check bar receipts later.

"Nothing's really changed," Wally said, "We flirt, we take on monsters, I bandage her up, we head to the next hunt,"

"So no progress on the romantic front?" He pried.

A bright red blush spread across Wally's cheeks, "Not really, nothing big,"

"You're blushing, what happened?" Dick smiled, punching the redhead in the shoulder lightly.

"Well," He sighed, "We, uh, _kissed_,"

"No way!" Dick gaped, genuine shock showing in his face.

"There were these skinwalkers that we were watching, too many to take on without a plan. Some came over towards our hiding spot so I just grabbed her and started kissing her," Wally rubbed the back of his head as he explained, "She went with it and we didn't get caught,"

"That's it?" His face fell, "That's disappointing," He crossed his arms.

Wally shrugged.

"But it does beg the question..." Dick leered, "How was it?"

The redhead tensed, his mind wandering as he considered the question. He remembered the way Artemis's fingers hand tangled into his hair, her nails scratching lightly at his scalp. The way her mouth moved confidently against his own, her lips full and soft. How it felt to be pressed up against her trim frame, having his hands on her hips.

"-ally? Wally!"

"Huh?" He was snapped out of his thoughts by his friend.

"You totally spaced!" Dick laughed wholeheartedly, "That good, huh?" He grinned.

"Yeah," Wally sighed, a smile hinting at his lips, "It was _amazing_,"

* * *

"Do you think Kal will be awake at this hour?" Zatanna questioned as she followed Artemis to get her laptop. Artemis shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but we can try. If he isn't we'll just leave a message for him to get back to us when he can,"

Zatanna unlocked her, Dick, and Bruce's room so that they could use its outlets.

"Wait," Artemis paused, having opened the computer, "What day is it?"

Zatanna checked her phone, "It's Friday night,"

"_Oh_," The blonde laughed, "This should be fun, pull up a chair Zee," Artemis gestured as she pulled up the video link to their mutual friend.

Zatanna complied, intrigued by Artemis's glee, and the two watched patiently as the call rang for a while, "Maybe we should-"

"No wait," Artemis smirked.

The connection popped up and Kaldur was there, looking a bit distracted, "Zatanna!" He exclaimed with a smile, "What a pleasure to hear from you,"

"Hey Kal," The dark haired woman smiled, "We're in a bit of a tiff and we were wondering if you could get some research material for us,"

"Bruce has been taken by a vetala and we need to find him," Artemis explained quickly.

Kaldur blinked in surprise, "Oh my, well hold on and I can-"

"Did you say a vetala?" A deep voice called out from Kaldur's side of the link.

Zatanna frowned in confusion and looked to Artemis, who was holding back a laugh as Kaldur's face grew flushed.

A very fit red haired man wearing only a loose fitting pair of worn jeans walked casually into view, leaning down and resting an arm on Kaldur's shoulder as he eyed who was on the other end of the video call.

"Hello Roy," Zatanna snickered, "Do you have something against shirts?"

"Zee I'm only late to the party because I decided to put on some pants," Roy smirked as Kaldur's face grew even redder.

"Kaldur, really," Artemis smiled, "You don't need to be embarrassed. But I _am _sorry that we had to crash your Friday night get together," She apologized.

"It is inappropriate for you to be aware of when I am being intimate with my boyfriend," Kaldur explained, glancing over at said boyfriend.

"Ah, but when else am I going to get to talk to my little sister?" Roy chuckled.

"You're a pain in my ass, Roy," Artemis rolled her eyes.

"So about the vetala," Zatanna chipped in.

"The _vetalas_," Roy corrected.

"Sorry?" She frowned.

"There won't be just one," The redhead explained gravely, "Vetalas hunt in pairs, and you will never deal with just one. I dealt with some in Las Vegas and they're _very _good at capturing victims, each pair has it down to an art,"

"How do they do it?" Artemis asked.

"It might be different with each pair, but usually one of them distracts the victim and the other attacks while the victim isn't paying attention to their surroundings. The venom works quickly and it only takes one bite to paralyze someone,"

"How quick?" Zatanna spoke up, twisting a lock of her hair as she began thinking.

"Less than a minute, maybe quicker." The redhead narrowed his eyes, thinking back to his experience with the creatures.

"Do you have any suggestions for taking them on?" Kaldur questioned, his blush having finally settled and his speech returning properly.

"There's four of us," Artemis chipped in, "Dick, Wally, Zee, and me,"

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are," Roy sighed, running a hand roughly through his hair, which Artemis noticed was rather wild at the time, "You've gotta be smarter than them,"

"We can do smart," Zatanna assured them.

"We're back!" Wally called out as he and Dick came through the motel door, "What are you doing?"

"Is that Wally?" Roy asked, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"No!" Artemis yelped, looking briefly at Zatanna for backup. Dick laughed as Wally ran up to look at the screen.

"Who're you?" Wally asked, resting his hands on Artemis's shoulders as he bent down to get a good view.

"I'm Roy," The other redhead introduced, "Kaldur's boyfriend," He said, a hint of warning lacing his voice.

"Roy don't get pissy, Wally isn't going to steal Kal away," Dick smirked, joining in the group call.

"So you _are _Wally," Roy mused, scrutinizing the screen to get a good look at him.

"Well I think we've got all the information we need," Artemis coughed. Zatanna flicked the blonde's leg.

"I think we need to have a little _chat _West,"

"Really Roy?" Artemis huffed.

"Alright, do you want my number?" Wally offered, oblivious to Roy's threatening tone.

Roy wrinkled his nose in confusion, "Where'd you get this idiot, Artemis?"

"Don't insult him," The blonde snarled.

"I'm not an idiot," Wally frowned, his tone serious, "I was offering my number because I know what you want to talk about. You have no idea what kind of person I am and you know that I'm new at hunting. You want to make sure I won't get Artemis killed,"

Dick and Zatanna glanced warily at each other as the conversation continued.

"Yeah, actually, I do. I don't want her dying because of a stupid mistake on your part," Roy responded tetchily.

"Well I can assure you, she _won't_," Wally shot back. His usual lighthearted tone was entirely gone, replaced by one of grave purpose, "I'm watching her back and she's watching mine. And I won't let her die,"

Both sides of the chat grew quiet after Wally's statement. The redhead's were still glaring at each other and Artemis was staring at Wally with her mouth agape. Zatanna held her hand over her shoulder and Dick gave her a silent high five.

Kaldur cleared his throat.

"You're alright, Wally," Roy declared, a genuine smile on his face. Wally nodded and Artemis sank down in her seat, her cheeks a bit flushed, "Now, do you think you have all the information you need? I think I told you everything I know," He asked, talking business again.

"Yeah, I think we'll be able to handle it now, thanks," Zatanna smiled.

"No problem, I guess it's good to see you all," Roy said, his tone noncommittal. Kaldur smirked at him and turned back to the screen.

"I am glad you called for assistance," He said, "However, Artemis,"

The blonde smiled innocently, "Yeah?"

"In the future please do not interrupt our date night," Kaldur said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Artemis laughed, "Oh all right. Thanks guys,"

Everyone quickly said their goodbyes, a round of overlapping "Nice to see you"s and various statements that crowded the speakers. When the couple was gone Wally and Dick turned to the girls to hear the information they'd missed.

* * *

**Surprise! I ship Koy! This chapter was so ship-filled it's ridiculous. But whatever, it's fun anyway. **

**Please review and let me know what you think! The two vetalas are going to be familiar characters, who do you think they're going to be?**

**_Love_, Veg**


	17. Bait

**I absolutely loved all of the guesses for who the two vetalas might be! And many of you got close, however there was one thing most of you forgot. Both vetalas are women! See if you can figure it out before it's revealed in this chapter!**

* * *

"What was the place called again?" Artemis asked from her place at the computer.

"The Greenhouse," Wally answered, "It's a bar,"

"And you're sure about it?" Zatanna crossed her arms as she leaned over Artemis's shoulder.

Dick was about to speak but Artemis let out a small huzzah and caught everyone's attention.

"The majority of the victims have receipts for this place, they were all regulars," She announced.

"So what's the plan?" Wally asked as he stockpiled everyone's silver knives into one pile, double checking that they were all, in fact, silver.

"We'll need bait," Dick spoke up, his face grim.

"_What_?" Zatanna hissed, "Are you serious? That's too dangerous,"

"What do you mean 'bait'?" Wally asked.

"It'll be _fine_, and they'll only need to draw out the two Vetalas," Dick explained, running his hands through his hair as he mentally worked out the details.

"I can do it," Wally offered quickly, "I'm the fastest, I can handle dodging their fangs,"

"Not gonna happen," Artemis spoke up, still facing the computer screen.

"I can handle it, Arty," The redhead insisted.

"I know you can," She shot back, swiveling in her chair, "But off all the victims, Bruce was only the second man they'd taken,"

"We could dress him in drag," Zatanna snickered. Wally sneered in unpleasantness.

"Like that would work," Artemis rolled her eyes with a smile, "I'll be the bait," She stated with finality.

"Absolutely not," Wally spluttered out.

"Why not?" She frowned, her stature growing defensive. Dick put a hand to his mouth as he watched the two eagerly.

"I, uh, just think that, uh," Wally looked around, searching for a reason.

"You know I can handle myself, right," Artemis leaned forward, eyeing the redhead sharply.

Wally let out a loud, genuine laugh, "I'd be an idiot to think otherwise,"

"Then what's the problem?" She huffed.

"There's probably a better way to go about this," Wally suggested, looking to the two other occupants of the room hopefully.

"I could be the bait," Zatanna shrugged, "I've definitely got a step up on Artemis,"

"You do not," The blonde retorted indignantly, "I learned to fight at a much younger age than you,"

"But _you _aren't psychic," Zatanna smirked.

"What," Wally blurted out, his eyes widening, "What?"

"Did I forget to mention that?" Artemis mumbled, looking sheepishly at her partner.

"_What?_" Wally squeaked.

"I'm psychic," Zatanna stated simply.

"What does that _mean_?" He asked, running a hand across the back of his head.

"I can move things. But it's pretty limited," Zatanna pursed her lips as she attempted to explain.

"She has to do this thing though," Dick wrinkled his nose, having difficulty as well.

"I say things backwards. When I do that I have more control over the objects I'm moving,"

"Zee also has the psychic ability to be able to say things backwards," Artemis teased, earning a small glare from her friend.

"Can you show me?" Wally asked a bit hesitantly.

"Sure," Zatanna grinned. She turned toward the motel table and held her hand up, her eyebrows furrowing as she concentrated, "_Gnirb em eht koob_,"

One of their mythological reference books suddenly went flying off the table and soared straight into Zatanna's outstretched hand. The moment it touched, she grabbed it and turned on the spot to show the redhead with a victorious grin.

"Cool," He decided, a smile stretching across his face.

"But not a fast enough tactic to be any use against Vetalas," Artemis pointed out, "It should be me who's the bait,"

Wally opened his mouth to retort but found himself torn. He _knew _that Artemis could handle herself well. He had no idea how well Zatanna was in a fight. So it seemed logical that he should support the blonde being bait, but his entire being still screamed against it. To keep her away from such a dangerous task. He looked helplessly to Dick, the only other objective voice in the room who had seen both women fight before.

"It should be Artemis," He declared to the room at large, his expression serious, "She has a faster reaction time than Zee,"

"I'll go get ready, then," She offered, gracefully leaping up from her chair and heading out of the motel room, no doubt to get her clothes from the car and change in her and Wally's room.

The moment the door closed behind her, Dick spoke up.

"Wally-"

"No," The redhead held up a hand, halting his friend, "No, its fine. I understand," He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"You're allowed to be worried though," Zatanna said, the tone of her voice revealing that she was nervous as well.

"So what is the plan?" Wally asked, diverting the conversation as his eyes were trained on the motel door where Artemis had left.

Dick shifted on his feet slightly, "Artemis will do her thing and get the Vetalas attention as a good victim. We'll wait outside and keep watch. Once they reveal themselves as Vetalas and attack, we'll make our move,"

"What if they attack her in the bar?" Zatanna questioned.

"They wouldn't, the venom knocks the victim and it would draw too much attention," He assured her.

Artemis stepped back into the room, her step confident while her eyes shifted with a tinge of hesitation.

"Since when do you own a skirt?!" Wally gasped, his eyes widening at the sight of the blonde's rather attractive clubbing attire, "And high heels!"

"You don't know everything about me, West," Artemis smirked, planting her hand saucily on her pushed out hip.

"Then we'll have to fix that," He laughed in response. Zatanna threw the blonde a knowing look which was entirely ignored, making her smile.

"We'll need to head out soon, everyone stock up," Dick motioned to the pile of silver knives and blades on one of the motel beds.

The atmosphere grew quiet as the clack and clink of knives settled into the air, heavy anticipation falling around them.

* * *

Artemis, or rather, "Alice" was careful to control her acting as she entered The Greenhouse. Her normal observant attitude wasn't going to get her targeted so she did her best to act disinterested in everything around her. She had a microphone in her ear and the noises of Dick and Wally bickering over something was rather distracting as she walked smoothly around the tables toward the bar. The bartender was a handsome man and he smiled at her as she settled into a stool.

"Can I get you something, Sweetheart?" He asked, his voice holding the smooth tone of honesty that Artemis figured had gotten many a drunk to spill their troubles.

"Spicy Ginger," Artemis answered quickly, acting rather disinterested in the man.

_"You like spicy gingers, Artemis?" _Zatanna snickered into the blonde's ear over Artemis's choice of drink. The woman bristled but ignored the comment, choosing not to focus on Wally's embarrassed splutters and instead on letting her eyes drift around the bar.

The victims had been mostly female for a reason, the two best options to explain the phenomenon were either that the vetalas were picking up lesbians, or making friends with the women and coaxing them somewhere else. Women were much more likely to trust other women, after all.

Either way, Artemis's best shot was to act entirely disgusted by males. She didn't find this too difficult. The bartender dropped off her drink and she immediately took a sip. The bourbon in it was harsh against her throat and the ginger added a tangy sour taste that made her lips curl. It wasn't exactly a 'girly' drink, but her demon possessed father had decided early on that she needed to build up an alcoholic tolerance.

"That's a bit much for a pretty little thing like you," A brown haired man sauntered up to the seat next to her, his shoulders leaning a bit too close to her own for comfort, "How about I buy you something sweeter?" He offered, the smile on his face falling a bit more on the lecherous side. Artemis rolled her eyes at him and set down her drink carefully on her napkin.

"_Who's that?_" Wally's voice resonated in her ear.

"_Shhh, don't bother her,_" Dick responded just as clearly.

"Not interested," Artemis told him, not even glancing in his direction as she spoke.

"You sure, sweetheart?" He tried again, "I ca-"

"Not. Interested," Artemis stated firmly, turning her head to glare at the man. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and leaned back, his eyebrows turned down in half-confusion.

"Fine," He huffed, sliding off of the stool and stomping away. The blonde didn't give him a second glance, choosing to rather sip at her drink some more and scan the smoky atmosphere. She let her eyes linger on each of the women in the bar, an action that was both helpful for her act and helpful to scope out possible suspects.

One man tried to catch her gaze as she was looking around, he was ignored and Artemis turned back to the bar, raising her hand to get another drink, signaling with her fingers that she wanted two. If the vetalas were watching, they might assume that she was going to be drunk after she'd downed the alcohol. The blonde smiled at the bartender as he dropped off her order. The vetalas would be wrong, of course. Artemis finished the next glass quicker than the last and reached for the second without hesitation, knowing it would take at least two more glasses before she even got tipsy.

For the next twenty minutes, Artemis worked through her third glass slowly, letting her posture slump in order to have the appearance that the alcohol was taking effect, she swirled the liquid in the glass often and pretended to be oblivious to anyone around. Two more men came up to talk to her but she continuously shooed them away with a sneer and an unpleasant demeanor.

Her drink was almost gone when she was finally approached by two women, Artemis smiled at them and they each took a seat next to her at the bar.

"We noticed you seemed kinda lonely, Hun," One of them stated, patting Artemis on the arm and leaning toward her in a comforting manner, her blonde pigtails bobbed on the side of her head as she spoke and Artemis resisted the urge to snicker at their ridiculousness.

"And that you don't seem interested in any of these _men_," The other leaned in, catching Artemis's gaze as she scoffed out the word 'men'. She had long red hair that cascaded down her shoulder and elegant features, her demeanor altogether rather sultry.

"_Men_!" The blonde woman laughed, throwing her head back in a loud scoff, "Who needs 'em. Right?" She grinned, looking to Artemis for an answer.

Artemis smiled wickedly, knowing that she'd caught herself a few vetalas, "Yeah, I gave them up a _long _time ago," She smirked.

"I told you she look sensible, Ivy," The woman with pigtails clasped her hands together in glee.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Harley," Her partner smiled pleasantly, lifting a hand to rest upon Artemis's shoulder, "We have a proposition for you, Honey," Ivy rose her eyebrows.

"Oh it's gonna be _super _fun!" Harley squealed. Artemis looked back and forth between the two, trying to keep up with the conversation.

"Yes, Harley and I were going to head home soon," Ivy started, her eyes growing hooded as her eyes gathered a seductive glint.

"And you can come too!" Harley cut in, the smile on her face turning mischievous.

Artemis assessed the situation and decided that _yes_, these were certainly the two they were looking for.

"_Go with them,_" Dick's voice chimed in her ear, backing up her decision.

Artemis pulled out all the stops for her acting, bringing a teasing smile to her lips and sitting up a little straighter, catching both of the woman's eyes, "I hope that you're insinuating what I think you are," She purred, "Or I'll be _very _disappointed," Artemis smirked, leaning into the hand Ivy still had perched on her shoulder.

The two vetalas smiled at her response.

"Oh, don't you worry, sweetheart," Harley assured her, drawing her arm across Artemis's shoulder, "We'll take good care of you," She hummed.

"_Artemis this is really weird, can you hurry up?"_Wally's voice simpered into her ear.

"Let me just pay for my drinks," Artemis leaned forward with a smile, holding her arm up to catch the bartender's attention. Harley and Ivy kept their arms around her as she paid and Artemis worked her damndest not to tense up, "Alright, lead the way, ladies," The blonde cooed.

The three all kept their hands tucked around each other's waists as they made their way out of the bar, catching a few curious stares as they left.

"Are we walking?" Artemis spoke up, trying to keep a conversation going so that when her backup came, they would be distracted.

"Yes, it's not far," Ivy said, her voice smooth. Harley giggled, something that had begun to make Artemis rather nervous, and bounced on the balls of her feet as she walked.

"We're gonna take a shortcut," She laughed, using her free arm to point to an upcoming alleyway.

Artemis didn't know if her friends had a clear view of where she was, so she spoke up instead, knowing that they could hear her.

"In there? That looks kinda sketchy," She wrinkled her nose.

"Don't you worry, we take it _all _the time," Ivy assured her, confirming that Artemis could expect them to attack once they'd made their way far enough into the dark alley.

She resisted the urge to look toward where she knew her friends were hiding across the street.

* * *

**It's Ivy and Harley! I wanted to chose some Gotham villains because of the focus on the Bats in this chapter. What do you think?**

**Zatanna is psychic It took me a long time to decide what she would be, but I decided against making her a witch because witches are something that hunters kill and I already did the "not all monsters are evil" spiel. What do you think of my decision?**

**Please review and let me know what you think! And keep a lookout weds-thurs for the next chapter! **

**_Love,_ Veg**


	18. Change of Plans

**I love you alllll! You are fantastic! Here's the next chapter!**

* * *

"There she is," Zatanna whispered, nudging the two boys who were sitting against the car. Artemis's car was parked across from the bar and the trio had been hiding behind it for the entirety of the time Artemis had been inside. Wally and Dick scrambled up to peek over the hood, watching as Artemis was pulled along by the two women.

"When do we strike?" Wally asked, keeping his eyes locked on Artemis's form and hating the knot in his chest that had formed from knowing that she was surrounded by the creatures.

"We'll have to wait until they reveal themselves," Dick frowned, "We have to be sure that they're vetalas,"

"Yeah," Zatanna laughed a bit, "They might just be a couple of horny lesbians,"

"We need to move the next car over," Wally hissed, pulling the two along as they followed Artemis, the blonde continuing down the street. Zatanna and Dick followed him silently, all three of them creeping behind the line of parked cars.

"They're going into that alley," Zatanna reported.

"Let's go," Wally stated, beginning to stand up and follow them. Dick, however, grabbed his arm and yanked him down.

"Not yet," He hissed, watching the alley where Artemis and the two women had disappeared to with a deep frown.

"We can't wait any longer," Wally retorted, the calm that he had kept thus far beginning to dissipate.

Zatanna held up the speaker that transpired what was occurring at Artemis's end.

"_How long until we get there?_" Artemis's voice sounded.

"She's trying to ask _us_ that," Zatanna snarled, "Let's _go_,"

Wally got up and started to leave but Dick caught him and held him back, "Not yet!"

"I'm not waiting any longer!" Wally growled, fighting his friend's grip.

"_Actually, change of plans, Honey,_" One of the women's voices came through the speaker.

"I'm going!" Zatanna declared loudly, panic rising in her tone.

"No! Zee stop!" Dick yelled out. The psychic stopped, turning back to stare at the two boys who were still struggling.

"Why?!" She shouted, torn between Artemis's safety and her trust in Dick's planning.

"Let me go!" Wally fought, their struggle growing serious.

"It's the only way!" Dick grit out, having trouble holding back the redhead who had begun to put all of his strength into breaking free.

"_Hey!" _Artemis's yell broke the speaker, making all three of the hunter flinch from the high pitched noise.

"HELP!" Her shout no longer came from the speaker, but rather echoed from the alleyway across the street, _"WALLY!_"

Zatanna didn't wait any longer on an explanation and ran.

Wally felt his blood pumping wildly, Artemis's scream ringing in his ears. She was in the hands of the vetalas, blood drinking devils, and he'd agreed to put her there. His anger and frustration at being unable to get to the blonde flooded his system and he didn't even register punching Dick across the jaw. His entire being focused on running to her. He passed Zatanna with ease, despite her head start. He was sure that he'd never run so fast in his entire life.

_"Artemis!"_

* * *

There wasn't any light in the alleyway and Artemis knew what was coming. She tried not to tense as Harley dropped her head onto her shoulder, not wanting to break cover yet. However, the two women slowed down their walk and Artemis realized that she was out of time.

"How long until we get there?" She spoke up, hoping that her friends on the other end of the earpiece understood that she was asking for them; informing them that it was time for her backup to arrive. Harley and Ivy still had her around the waist and Artemis was certain that she didn't stand a chance alone.

The arms around her waist gripped her a bit tighter and Artemis itched to reach for the silver knife hidden in her boot.

"Actually, change of plans, Honey," Ivy grinned, tilting her head over as she opened her mouth.

Artemis reacted instantly, twisting her torso to lurch herself out of their grip and pushing them away. The blonde rolled, taking the opportunity to grab the knife out of her boot and standing up in a defensive position in front of the two vetalas, "Yeah, change of plans," She said.

"Another hunter!" Ivy hissed, baring her fangs. Harley wasted no time and launched at Artemis, her fingernails having formed into sharp claws and her fangs out. Artemis moved out of the way just in time and grabbed Harley's arm as she passed, twisting it backwards. Harley's other arm lashed out and scratched her across the shoulder, making her cry out.

Artemis dropped Harley's arm and threw a leg out to catch Ivy when she attacked, missing the vetala due to their enhanced speed. She tried to slice her as her clawed hand flew out, but Harley was back again, latching onto Artemis's arms from behind and wrenching them back. She struggled, but Harley's grip was harsh and perfected to ensure she wouldn't break free.

"Hey!" Artemis called out, wondering where her friends were. Ivy brushed some dirt from her green dress and walked up the two blondes, her glare sharp.

And suddenly, she understood. The pieces fell into place and Artemis felt like an idiot for not figuring it out earlier, why Dick must have been keeping them away. It was ridiculous; really, he should have known she would have agreed to this anyway.

Ivy drew her face close to Artemis's and she tried to keep her chin tucked down, attempting to block the unprotected skin of her neck. It was a useless effort and Artemis abruptly didn't like this idea any longer.

Her mind turned to Wally, her partner and (if she really thought about it) her best friend. He wouldn't have agreed to this secret plan of Dick's. Artemis knew he'd be furious about it. Harley was giggling loudly in her ear and Ivy was teasing her fangs across the skin of her neck.

"Gotta get your blood pumping," Harley explained with a laugh.

Artemis continued to struggle against Harley's grip but she couldn't gain an inch. She flinched when Ivy bit down, her fangs painful and the skin of her neck sensitive. The blonde blinked slowly, trying to maintain consciousness as long as she could. Her mind grew muddled and her vision became unfocused, her muscles relaxing.

"HELP!" Artemis shouted, her mind turning into a jumbled mess that only allowed a few working thoughts. She fumbled with her lips some more, straining them to work as only one thought was left, a singular thought that echoed in her mind over and over again, so strong that it compelled her to scream with the last of her energy, even as her eyes closed.

"_WALLY!_"

* * *

Zatanna ran into the alleyway and found Wally kneeling on the ground; she jogged over to him to look over his shoulder. Her heart fell at what she saw.

Wally turned the silver knife over in his fingers a few times, his emotions pulling him somewhere between anger and despair.

"We can track her," Dick spoke up, having walked into the alley, a guilty scowl on his features.

Wally stood up silently, turning to face his friend, "Of course we can," He said quietly, tucking the knife into his jacket pocket, "This was the real plan, wasn't it?" He asked with a frown. Zatanna stayed silent, worry for her friend and concern over whether Wally was going to snap clouding her thoughts.

"It's the only way to find Bruce," Dick confessed, his eyes on the ground, "They never would have told us,"

Zatanna watched him carefully, noticing the bags under his eyes and the way his shoulders were slumped in shame.

"You knew," Wally snarled, stepping up to Dick and grabbing his shirt roughly, "You knew why we were here the whole time. Why didn't you tell us?!" He yelled, his teeth barred. Zatanna ran up and placed her hand on Wally's shoulder, grounding him. The redhead loosened his grip but didn't release him.

Dick took the roughhousing silently, a look of firm resolve on his face, "You never would have agreed to let her be captured,"

Wally bristled, "Of course not!" He hissed, his grip retightening. Zatanna stepped quickly in between them before Wally could do anything else, pushing them back from each other and sending them each a harsh glare before turning to Dick .

"Did Artemis know what she was getting into?" She questioned; her tone stern.

Dick shook his head, "It needed to be real. I didn't want them catching on and we only had one shot,"

Wally opened his mouth to say something else but his throat constricted, his mind conjuring up what Artemis had screamed.

"_WALLY!"_

Her voice echoed in his head and he pulled his hands up to tug at his hair, "She didn't know," He whispered, sending a glare to Dick, "She thinks we abandoned her!" He yelled.

"No!" Zatanna shot back, "She'll know that something went wrong!"

"She called for me!" Wally shouted back, one of his hands tugging in his hair against, attempting to relieve the frustration and distress, "Artemis _needed _me!"

Zatanna strode over and slapped him, her features fierce as the redhead focused on her in surprise, "Artemis_ still _needs you. So get your shit together, because we're going after her,"

Wally let Zatanna's words settle into his mind, washing away the worry and letting determination take its place. Dick walked up to join them, pulling out his phone to reveal a map with a glowing green dot.

"Right," Wally nodded, his composure returning, "Let's go,"

* * *

"_Artemis,_"

The blonde felt her head roll to the side as her consciousness returned. She squeezed her eyes shut as a pounding in her head became more prominent and she tried to move her hands, unsurprised to find them restrained.

"Artemis,"

She groaned a bit and slightly opened her eyes, discovering that she had been tied down to a chair in a damp warehouse full of machinery. Her muscles ached and a sharp pain in her neck reminded her of the situation she was in.

Artemis turned her head to find the source of her name and discovered the object of their search tied to a chair next to her as well.

"I found you," Artemis scoffed wearily as she tugged experimentally on her ropes. It was no use.

Bruce harrumphed and gave her a look of exasperation, "Dick called you for backup?"

Artemis tried to shrug but her muscles protested and it turned into a wince.

"They drank some of your blood while you were out," Bruce explained. The blonde nodded wearily, glancing over at her fellow hunter to assess his condition. To her, Bruce had always looked sharp, immovable, and mysterious in a way that made you unsure of just how he might be deciding to kill you. But after two days in the company of a couple of vetalas, the man was looking a bit worse for the wear. His skin was ashy pale, dirt and blood caked his clothes, and there were dark bruises gathering underneath both of his eyes.

"They'll find us," Artemis spoke up; uncertain of whom she was trying to reassure.

"I was already certain of that," Bruce responded evenly, "Be sure that you remember it as well,"

"I call the pretty one!" Harley's voice caught the two of them off guard, her and Ivy's form coming into view from behind a rusted machine. Bruce and Artemis quickly grew silent and unresponsive.

"You got more of her earlier," Ivy responded, her voice tight. The vetalas stepped into the main room and began eyeing the hunters as if they were choice pieces of meat. Which, Artemis figured, was not too far off from the truth.

"But you got more of his blood yesterday," Harley retorted, bouncing on the balls of her feet when they'd stopped in front of the chairs.

"What," Artemis snorted, "You can't share?" She rolled her eyes, drawing attention to herself. It was a simple idea that had formed quickly in her head once the two vetalas had taken interest in having another meal. Based on Roy's information, you could only last a few days with vetalas before they drank you dry; and Bruce had been with them for two. Artemis didn't know how much blood he had left running through him, but she could be damn sure that she had more.

Besides, Artemis had absolute confidence that Wally would find her soon. All she had to do was ensure that Bruce would last long enough for the rescue.

"Hmmm," Ivy drew a sharp claw to her lip as she considered the two hunters before her, "I suppose just because we have two meals doesn't mean we can't share one,"

Harley smiled widely at the idea, her posture straightening in anticipation. Artemis caught Bruce turning his head to glare at her out of the corner of her eye; she wasn't surprised that he'd caught on to her plan. Bruce had always been a self-sacrificing bastard and he was probably just upset that she beat him to the starting line. Artemis just figured that she was being the logical one.

"So can we share the tasty one?" Harley questioned Ivy, batting her eyelashes to try and convince her.

"Who's the tasty one?" Artemis piped up once more, pulling out her acting to seem genuinely curious.

"You are, Honey," Ivy answered, leaning over to drag a claw lightly down Artemis's cheek, "Women are _always _more appetizing than men,"

"Come on, Ivy," Harley whined, "I'm _hungry_,"

"I've got a better idea, Harls," Ivy said with a twitch of a smile on her lips. Artemis narrowed her eyes, wondering where the vetala's thought was going and if there was a way to change it without being obvious.

"I'm listening," Harley cooed, sauntering around Artemis's chair and taking the blonde's ponytail in her grip, toying with it.

"We'll have half of our meal from him," She pointed to Bruce with a smirk, "And then finish off with the yummy blonde,"

"Ohh!" Harley grinned, "Dessert!"

"Yes," Ivy agreed, sliding over to Bruce's chair and grabbing the collar of his shirt, "But dessert comes last," She reminded Harley, who had been eyeing Artemis's neck.

Artemis grew tense, trying to figure out a way to get them away from Bruce as they bit down. She blinked a few times, her mind still a bit foggy from the blood loss she'd had before she even woke up.

"No," Artemis spoke up, her voice barely a breeze in the large building. Her mind could think of no tricks, so bluntness became her only weapon, "Stop!" She yelled, managing to conjure up some force. The blonde watched Bruce with growing worry, she couldn't see his face, but his hands were growing slack, no longer gripping the sides of the chair.

"Stop it!" Artemis shouted, her hands fisting and her features rolling easily into a sharp scowl. The words echoed off of the walls of the abandoned factory and Artemis grew relieved when the two creatures stopped, turning to glare at her. The blonde glared right back, ignoring the blood dripping from their bright red lips, "Leave him alone," She demanded.

"What was that?" Ivy hissed, letting go of Bruce to stalk over to the blonde, her eyes sharp with anger. Harley followed right behind her, both creatures getting close to her face. The metallic scent of blood filled Artemis's senses and she grit her teeth.

"I said, _leave him alone_," She growled, leaning forward as best she could while tied to the chair, "You fucking _assholes_,"

Artemis didn't know how long they drank her blood. The two attacked her at first; biting her a few times before eventually they each settled on a spot. Her neck hurt all over, sharp, stabbing pains from the bitemarks and a growing, throbbing, ache that slowly enveloped her distracted all of her senses.

Her mind filled with fog.

* * *

**Ohhh! What did you think? Did I do a good job of portraying how desperate Wally was? And did you all catch on to the fact that when Artemis was out of hope, her last thoughts were for Wally to help her? I tried to mix both the confrontation from failsafe and Artemis's undercover job into the situation here, could you all tell?**

**I hope I inspired lots of feels, that was the goal!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	19. Understanding

**Hello everyone! This is the last chapter of this hunt! I hope you've enjoyed it!**

* * *

Wally was getting sick of Zatanna's hand on his shoulder. He hated that she knew he wanted to run off. Although; he wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it.

"You're sure that they're in there?" Zatanna asked, once again looking over Dick's shoulder to glance at the map, the bright green dot situated in the middle of the building before them.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Dick frowned, leading them to a thick metal door in the building's outer wall, "They're right in here,"

"I'm going," Wally declared. He reached his hand for the handle but Zatanna slapped it away.

"Get out your knives, and let me go first. I'll use my powers to throw some and they won't miss," She explained, prompting the redhead to grab a couple of silver daggers out of his coat, "Then you can run in and twist them. Make sure to twist them clockwise or it won't kill them,"

"And make sure you aim for the hearts," Dick reminded her.

"Can we go?" Wally pressed, his hand gripping the door's handle once more. Zatanna closed her eyes for a moment, focusing, before opening them again and nodding.

Wally ripped the door open and allowed Zatanna to rush in first, darting in behind her and Dick behind himself.

The room was large, nearly the whole building, but it was filled with rusted assembly machines. It took Wally only a few seconds to assess what was in front of him. Maybe thirty feet away there were two chairs facing away from them, each holding one captive. In one was Bruce, his large form slumped and ragged. And the other...

"BATS REH NI EHT TRAEH," Zatanna shouted, throwing one of her silver knives toward the closest vetala.

Wally was momentarily relieved that she had thrown it before he'd got his feet going; he had entirely forgotten about the plan and would have certainly gotten hit if he'd taken off a second sooner. The redhead thought that he'd set a new record running to the alley, but he was sure that he'd just set a new one.

In the second chair, the second captive sat surrounded by the two vetalas, their fangs sunk deep into her neck. Her long blonde hair hung off of the back of the chair, matted blood in some of the strands. Wally had never run so fast, but yet he felt as if he was running in slow motion towards the two creatures, his boots thudding loudly on the concrete, pushing each step harder than the last. Zatanna's knife had landed with a wet thunk into the back of one of the vetalas, the blonde haired creature stumbling to the side slightly in shock and pain. Wally reached for the knife in her back the millisecond he was in reach, plunging it in farther before twisting it with a wicked flick of his wrist.

Wally didn't even pause as the shrieks of the crumbling vetala echoed off the walls and filled the building. He resituated his grip on the silver dagger in his hand and launched himself toward the other vetala. She had screamed when the other had fallen and was facing him with unheeded terror stretching across her features, her arms held up in a shaken defense. But Artemis's blood was still dripping from her wet lips and Wally didn't hesitate to drive the dagger straight through her sternum, impaling her heart. The force of the blow knocked them down and Wally twisted the blade clockwise as the vetala was still scrambling to cry out in pain. The creature shriveled, cracking into dust that spread across the dirty concrete floor like dry sand.

It had only been maybe five seconds from when Zatanna threw the first knife, and Wally's rage could have propelled him on to fight more should he have to. But he was drawn back to cold reality when a sound hit his ears.

"_Wally_," A rough voice called out to him. He quickly scrambled to the source, dropping on one knee to match Artemis's height. The redhead cupped each side of her face with his hands as he looked her over, scowling at the bright red painted over her neck, the skin a mess of bitemarks and congealing blood. Her wrists were red and raw around the rope tying her to the chair, and her skin was unnaturally pale, "Wally," She whispered, her head and eyelids drooping slowly.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm here, Babe," He answered, brushing flecks of dried blood away from her face with his thumbs, his bright green eyes darting between her own, "Stay awake, come on," He snapped lightly, patting her cheek as her eyes began closing.

"Bruce," Artemis slurred a bit, her eyebrows knitting together in worry. Wally nodded, keeping her eyes focused on his face.

"He's fine," Wally assured her, looking over to Dick and Zatanna who were cutting a mostly unconscious Bruce out of his binds.

"_Slna_" The man mumbled, grasping lightly at Dick's shirtsleeves as they helped him up, "_Selina_," He tried again, frowning at Dick.

"Not now," Dick told him, patting his back with a smirk, "Next week,"

"Who's Selina?" Zatanna questioned, assisting Dick as he got Bruce situated in his grip.

"Just a kitsune we're visiting next week," He answered dismissively, "No big deal,"

"_Selina..._"

"Quiet, you big lug," Dick snickered, hobbling off with Bruce in a fireman's carry.

"Wally?" Artemis said quietly, her head lolling to the side when Wally released the grip on it to loosen the rope on her hands.

"Still here, Babe," Wally answered, bringing a hand up to push some hair out of her face before returning to his task. Zatanna came over with a knife and began sawing at the rope, whispering backwards words under her breath to loosen the knots.

"God, Artemis. Your neck," Zatanna hissed as she kneeled down next to Wally.

"Dick's fault," Artemis informed them, her head now hanging down against her chest.

"I know, I punched him," Wally told her, releasing one of her hands and placing it carefully in her lap before moving onto the other.

"I _hurt_, Wally," The blonde pouted, "I'm dizzy,"

Zatanna finished with Artemis's legs and Wally nodded for the woman to go help Dick.

"_Wally?_" Artemis tried again, a bit of distress leaking into her voice. The redhead had finished with the last of the ropes and put his hands back on the sides of her face, reassuring her.

"I'm still here, Babe," He said, smiling sadly when the woman sighed in relief, "I'm gonna take you to the car now. Then I'll patch you up, okay?"

Artemis nodded weakly, flinching from the wounds on her neck, and Wally carefully maneuvered himself to pick her up with the least amount of movement, cradling the crook of her knees in one arm and supporting her back with the other. Her head landed against his neck and Wally finally felt a bit calmer after feeling her light breaths ghost across his neck.

Holding her in his arms, feeling her heartbeat and breath, Wally could finally rest his nerves, no longer worrying that he was losing her. And by the even breaths and light grip of her fists in his shirt, he supposed she wasn't worried either.

* * *

The next time Artemis awoke she wasn't nearly as uncomfortable. She blinked her eyes a few times to gather focus and was firstly aware that she was laying on one of the beds in Bruce and Dick's room. She was secondly aware that a pair of concerned green eyes were drilling into her.

"Good morning," Wally said, scooping his arms around her back to help her sit up slowly. Artemis settled into the new position and nodded to the redhead, bringing a hand up to feel her neck. Wally snatched her hand up in the process, "Ah, ah, ah. I've bandaged you. You aren't screwing it up," He smirked, slow to release her hand.

Artemis opened up her mouth to thank him, but her eyes caught view of someone else in the room and abruptly she was yelling.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT. YOU DIDN'T EVEN THINK TO FUCKING TELL ME?! I WOULD HAVE DONE IT YOU FUCKWAD," Artemis shouted, pointing her finger viciously in Dick's direction. Dick looked a bit taken aback at first, surprised by the outburst since he hadn't been aware she'd woken up. But as the insults continued he just sighed and walked over to the blonde, looking occasionally to Wally for assistance. The redhead sat contently next to his partner, smirking pleasantly as Artemis yelled herself hoarse. "YOU NEARLY GOT ME FUCKING KILLED. NEXT TIME YOU WANT OUR HELP YOU BETTER DISH OUT ALL THE DETAILS BECAUSE YOUR LITTLE ASSHAT PLANS SUCK,"

"Artemis you're awake!" Zatanna squealed, having just entered the motel room with Bruce behind her. The blonde accepted a sudden hug and Dick meandered away from her view, hoping that he could avoid another lecture.

"Hey, Zee," Artemis smiled, "Good to see you're okay, Bruce," She directed to the man behind her.

Bruce kept a straight face, "Thank you, Artemis," He said. To anyone else it might have seen as the polite response to Artemis's well-wishing, however Artemis understood that he was thanking her for taking the brunt of the vetalas feeding, successfully saving both of their lives. The blonde nodded.

"We're actually planning to head out now, but we were waiting to make sure you didn't need any more blood transfusions," Zatanna told her.

Wally got up and began saying his goodbyes, shaking hands and giving hugs. Artemis slid to the edge of the bed, unsure whether she was up for walking just yet. Dick walked over and the blonde sent him a questioning look, giving him a chance to redeem himself.

"Yeah, I know. I was an idiot. I shouldn't have done it without your knowledge," He ran a hand through his hair, "I just...I knew that we only had one shot," Dick told her weakly. Artemis smirked, understanding that he had realized in hindsight what a stupid idea it was.

"In the future, just make sure you let everyone in on the plan. Otherwise it can cause confusion when things get tight," She crossed her arms.

Dick nodded before holding out his hand for a shake, "Friends?" Artemis looked at it for a moment, making her friend worry, before taking it.

"Friends," She declared.

* * *

Bruce, Dick, and Zatanna had finally left and Wally and Artemis were heading down the motel sidewalk to reach their own room. Despite his protests, Artemis wasn't oblivious to the large amount of yawning that Wally was doing. Zatanna had let it slip that he hadn't really slept at all while she had been unconscious from the blood loss. And the blonde wasn't entirely caught up on all her needed sleep either, so she had decided that they were going to sleep the afternoon away.

Both, however, were unprepared for what laid in wait for them in their motel room.

"You've gotta be shitting me," Artemis huffed, dropping her bags by the door. '

"Oh," Wally declared, "Well,"

Artemis glared at the room, mostly because it had done her a great disservice. For in this motel room, there was only one bed.

It was a decently large bed.

But that wasn't the point.

"I'll take the floor, then," Wally shrugged, dropping his bags next to the desk and heading to the closet to find the extra bedding.

"You will not," Artemis retorted with a frown. The redhead stopped where he was and turned back to face his partner.

"Well _you _aren't sleeping on the floor, you're still recovering," He pointed out.

"Well _you _haven't slept in over a day." She scowled, "We're sharing it," Artemis said, crossing her arms, daring him to contradict her.

That seemed to stop him in his tracks. Wally rubbed at the back of his head, "You're, uh. You're okay with that?"

"I can handle it," Artemis shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal, but Wally noticed that she wouldn't meet his eyes, "I'm going to shower," She declared, grabbing her backpack and strutting to the bathroom.

The door closed and Wally stood in the middle of the room for a moment, confusion and nervousness tossing his thoughts around. He did manage to gather himself together in time to get dressed into something more comfortable before Artemis finished, and was sliding under the covers when she exited the bathroom.

Artemis climbed into the other side of the bed quietly, and Wally hoped that she couldn't hear his wildly beating heart as she settled in.

She wasn't quite sure why she felt comfortable enough to face Wally as they laid together, but as her muscles relaxed into the old mattress, she was reminded of the fact that she trusted him completely.

"Hey, Artemis," Wally spoke up softly, catching her sharp grey eyes as they both lay on their sides, facing each other.

"Hm?" She answered, tucking the white sheets under her chin.

"I think I know why he did it," The redhead spoke quietly, as though he couldn't bear the words traveling any farther than the distance across the bed.

"Dick?" Artemis confirmed, furrowing her eyebrows a bit in confusion. Wally nodded and she continued, "Why?"

"Because of Bruce," Wally stated simply, his hand reaching out to draw aimless patterns in the sheets between them, "Because Dick cares for us, and he trusted our abilities. But most of all, because he cares for Bruce more than he cares for our friendship,"

Artemis frowned, processing Wally's theory slowly, "So; would that, be a bad thing then? Caring for him more than our friendship?" She asked.

The redhead was silent for a moment before responding, "I don't know,"

The blonde didn't say anything else, silently unfolding her arm to join him in drawing shapes in the mattress, their fingers bumping against each other every so often.

"I would do it," Wally whispered, his eyes trained on the sheets, "If you had been the first one to disappear," He explained, his bright green eyes meeting her for a glance, "I would risk my friendship with Dick, or Zatanna if I thought it would save you,"

He had spoken so quietly Artemis had to strain to hear him, but as the meaning translated in her mind her throat constricted. Because she knew what he was saying. She smiled softly, her fingers brushing across the distance between their hands and holding his.

"Me too," Artemis breathed, smiling a little wider when Wally grasped her hand back.

Over the next few minutes Wally's bright eyes drifted closed and his breaths grew even, his grip on her hand growing slack as he fell deep into sleep. Artemis stayed awake, watching him silently and musing on the strange turn of luck her life had taken. When she had lost her family, had turned to the life of a hunter, she had expected to live her entire life keeping the world an arm's length away. It was the only safe way to live, after all.

But Wally. She'd taken on Wally as a partner, as company for a life that was rather lonely. Artemis had planned to keep _him_ an arm's length away as well. After all, having a close relationship and being a hunter was a combination that Artemis had _never _seen work out. But this stupid man had slowly, bit by bit, tiptoed past her guardrails. She'd forgotten what it was like to be so close with someone. To have a best friend.

And that is just what Wally had become. In the course of over nearly half a year. A partner, a best friend, a confidant. After all the precautions she'd taken, here she was, laying across from a man that she couldn't possibly imagine going on without. A man that she could picture being _more_ than just a best friend, than a partner. Artemis bit her lip as she studied the redhead breathing softly beside her before she considered that, _yes_, she would even give up this life for him. To ensure that they could live on, spend as much time as they could together. Not even the thrill of hunting would be able to sway her from the prospect of living a long life together with Wally.

But how could she ask that of him? They weren't even lovers.

Taking on Wally West, she decided, had to have been the _worst_ and _best _decision she had ever made.

And when Artemis awoke in the morning to find herself entangled in his arms, his warm breath rolling across her shoulder, she still had the same conclusion.

* * *

**What do you think? Frustrated that they still aren't together yet? Well the point of this story was for them to fall in love slowly and naturally, so just give it a little more time. **

**Please review and let me know what you think! The next (and last!) hunt will be starting Wed-Thurs this next week!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	20. The Fair

**I am so super sorry that it has taken me so long to get this posted! Almost a week late I think? I know, it's totally unacceptable! Personal things happened and classes started and it's been tough to make time to get this hunt done! In case you were wondering, it takes me a while because I finish the whole hunt before posting any part of it! I just want to make sure that everything comes full circle and that there are no plotholes. Thank you so much for being patient with me! Here we go!**

* * *

"So, do witches look for these kinds of places? Or do these kinds of places pop up because of witches?" Wally asked his companion as he twirled his caramel apple, looking for the perfect starting point to take a bite. Artemis shrugged next to him and popped another handful of kettle corn into her mouth. The sun was gathering lower in the sky and the two hunters continued walking casually along the tents, dodging eager children and their parents.

"I have no idea, maybe they like the food," The blonde smirked, licking her fingers before tying off the bag of kettle corn to save for later. Wally responded with words that sounded as if he agreed but the caramel in his mouth made the whole statement unintelligible, Artemis just snorted and nudged him lightly, "Swallow, genius,"

The redhead did as she suggested and looked down to beam at the woman beside him, "I'm so glad you agreed to let us stay another day," He grinned, his eyes bright, "We handled that witch like pros and we deserved this,"

"I only agreed because we didn't have any big cases already lined up," Artemis huffed, curiously eying a stand selling homemade jewelry, "And because these are great places to buy herbs and spices that come in handy with summoning spells and crap,"

Wally stopped walking when he noticed her stare, "Do you wanna look? We have time," He shrugged, gesturing to the table filled with gemstone trinkets.

Artemis scowled at the suggestion but her sharp grey eyes hadn't moved from the table display so Wally took her by the elbow and pulled her over, "No! Wally it's _fine_,"

The redhead laughed and gave a polite wave to the young woman running the stand before gesturing that Artemis should admire the jewelry, "You barely have any jewelry," He pointed out.

"That's because it's impractical," The blonde retorted, crossing her arms as she glanced over the glinting accessories. Wally just smiled and began pointing out various (and rather gaudy) pieces.

Artemis smirked at her partner's choices and let her eyes graze over the jewelry, pausing when she noticed one necklace in particular. Her hand went to it before her mind could catch up, and Wally was politely "Oh"-ing over by the time she realized that she _had _picked it up to examine it closer.

The chain was silver and matched the setting that was designed as a symmetrical pair of abstract swirls that almost looked like wings surrounding the triangular emerald jewel. The silver was slightly aged and had a dark tint to it that gave the piece a more rugged quality. Artemis brushed her thumb over the gem, considering it, before abruptly placing it back on the table.

"No; I don't need it. It will just get broken," She declared, turning her back on the stand before she could change her mind.

"What?" Wally made an indignant sound in the back of his throat, grabbing the necklace once more.

"Let's go see the goats," Artemis called over her shoulder, still walking away as Wally scrambled to hand the necklace over to the seller without the blonde noticing.

"And the sheep!" He called back, placing the emerald necklace in the hands of the smirking woman and gesturing a "_Shush_" with his free hand. The woman nodded and put the necklace safely in her pocket before Wally finally rushed off to catch up with the blonde, "Have you ever seen a goat before, Arty?" He asked, falling into step beside her easily.

"No, I grew up in the city," She shrugged, following the signs and the squeals of children to their destination. The petting zoo was a small fenced in area surrounded by volunteers who were handing out corn cobs to the children to feed to the goats and sheep at the edge of the fence. The blonde stopped a good distance away with a wary look about her face, turning to her Midwest companion to play guide.

"Do you wanna feed them?" Wally grinned, grabbing her wrist and pulling her over to a volunteer with a basket of corn cobs.

"What if I don't?" Artemis responded testily as she allowed her redheaded companion to drag her to the edge of the fence where a small black goat was nibbling around at the dropped kernels, "I didn't know this was part of the experience…"

"You have to at least try!" He laughed, sensing her rising nervousness and holding her wrist loosely in case she decided that she wanted to bolt.

"Do they bite?" The blonde asked, kneeling down next to Wally as he held the corn out between the widespread wires.

"Only if you stick your fingers out by their mouths, they'll think that your fingers are carrots," He explained easily, smiling when the goat discovered the treat and began chomping away, "They don't mean to hurt anyone if they do,"

Artemis nodded slowly, watching the interaction curiously.

"Here, you try," Wally suggested holding one end of the cob out for her to grab.

The blonde opened her mouth to protest but instead she huffed, her stubborn determination winning out. Wally helped her hold the cob so that her fingers weren't in danger and took his own hand away, leaving her and her alone feeding the goat.

"Congratulations, Artemis," Wally grinned, "You are feeding a goat,"

Artemis cracked a wide smiled, and soon the two were laughing like a couple of idiots together while the goat continued to work away at the corn. While their laughter was dying down Artemis noticed a small girl with her parents watching nervously, her eyes glued to the black goat. Wally hadn't noticed so Artemis spoke up, calling out towards her, "Hey sweetie, do you want to come feed this one?" She asked, catching the little blonde's attention as well as Wally's.

The child looked around to ensure that Artemis had been talking to her before grinning and running over to her side, "Can I?" She breathed; her eyes wide with excitement. Her parents walked over casually, smiling at the situation.

"Sure, just hold on right here," Artemis smiled, guiding the girl's small hands to the corn cob.

"Keep your fingers tucked in," Wally pointed out with a smile of his own.

Artemis released her hold and let the girl take her turn, sharing a grin with Wally across the top of the kid's head as she giggled and cooed at the goat.

The girl was entirely distracted at this point and her parents were dutifully watching, so Wally once again grabbed Artemis's wrist and pulled her off toward the corn maze.

"Where are we going now?" The blonde asked with a laugh, taking his hand so that her wrist didn't get sore from all of his tugging.

"The corn and hay bale maze," He beamed back at her, "We need to get lost before we leave," Wally smirked as they stopped at the entrance, "Not that you ever need help getting lost," He snickered.

Artemis scoffed and punched the redhead in the shoulder, a smile teasing at her lips, "Well you're a terrible copilot," She accused, following her partner as he walked into the maze.

"Now, now," He teased, "Don't blame me for your shortcomings, Babe," Wally smirked, plucking a cob off the ground and picking the dried kernels off of it for something to do.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Artemis defended, purposefully taking a left when the redhead began taking a right. She smiled when he changed his course to follow her, "I'm one of a kind," The blonde declared proudly.

Wally gave a loud laugh and tossed the now kernel-free corn cob into the stalks, "That you are, Arty,"

"So are we lost yet?" Artemis asked, standing on her tiptoes to try and see over the stalks and frowning when she couldn't succeed.

"And by that I'm assuming you mean am _I _lost, because I _know _that you've been lost ever since the second turn," Wally said, making sure to take a few steps away from the blonde before speaking. Artemis sent him a harsh glare that he defused with a smile, "I'm only slightly lost," He admitted with a shrug, leading the way once more.

"What does that even mean?" Artemis frowned, "And shouldn't we be heading back to the car? It's getting dark out," She gestured around them, knowing that they weren't heading toward the exit due to the fact that the maze had changed from corn stalk paths to walls made of hay bales.

"What's that Artemis?" Wally asked with a smirk, turning with a mischievous look about him. The blonde narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you afraid of the dark?" He questioned, putting his hands up and hunching over slightly, creeping towards her, "You _scared_, Arty?"

The blonde didn't move an inch as he drew closer, "You wish," She rolled her eyes, "Wally you _know _that I'm not scared of the dark, it's kind of a requirement for this gig,"

The next few minutes were filled with sighs of exasperation as Wally attempted to get Artemis to jump, his quick prods and surprise movements doing absolutely nothing to sway her.

"Wally we don't have any flashlights, if you get us stuck in here I will use you as my mattress until the sun comes up," Artemis threatened.

The redhead laughed and walked closer, "Alright, alright, hop on," He smirked, bending down with his back toward her.

"What," Artemis deadpanned.

"Hop on my back! I'll get us out of here in no time," Wally grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

The blonde looked wary for a moment but relented and climbed onto Wally in a piggy-back position, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he gathered a good grip on the back of her knees, "Don't drop me, West,"

Artemis could feel the pull of his cheek muscles against her face as he smiled, "Not a chance, Crock,"

* * *

Artemis was still leaning against the hood of their truck (Wally had been feeling nostalgic that month) checking her messages when Wally returned from the shops.

"Did you get all the food you needed?" The blonde smirked, glancing up from the screen.

"Yup!" He grinned, his arms full of bags of food, "I got more kettle corn, and some caramel apples, hotdogs for dinner on the road, and there's a funnel cake for each of us for dessert!" He declared happily as he dumped the majority of it in the small back seat.

"Well I hope that lasts you until we get to Idaho," Artemis told him, "Because that's where we're heading next. We got a case from Kaldur, hop in,"

"Can I drive?" Wally asked abruptly, his tone one of complete seriousness.

The blonde paused, thinking for a moment before nodding with a small smile on her face the expression growing when the redhead cheered, "Don't get us lost," She teased.

"Please, Arty," Wally rolled his eyes as he slid into the driver's seat, "We'll make better time that you've ever known,"

"I'm holding you to that," Artemis laughed as she buckled up.

The two drove in silence until Wally found the highway; both eating their dinners quietly. Finally Wally's mouth was no longer occupied and he felt the need to speak.

"So what's in Idaho?" He asked, pulling the two funnel cakes out from their to-go boxes in the back seat.

"Something is possessing people's bodies and making them kill their loved ones," Artemis answered with a professional tone, "It sounds like it's most likely going to be a vengeful spirit, to me,"

"Should we call Dick?" Wally questioned, "After all, he knows more about vengeful spirits than anyone,"

"Naw I think we'll be fine. Plus the Zucco case was actually a pretty long time ago," The blonde pointed out. Wally nodded in agreement, doing the math in his head.

"Hey," The redhead spoke up, "By the way, I meant to ask you earlier; how did you get to be so good with kids?"

Artemis smirked lightly, "What, did I surprise you?" She asked, taking a proud bite of her funnel cake.

"Well...I...Yeah," He admitted, "I guess I just never thought that you would handle it so well," He shrugged sheepishly, a bit embarrassed of his assumptions.

"No, it's fine," She waved him off, "I wasn't very good with kids until I started hunting," Artemis told him, "But a lot of monsters go after children so I've ended up being around them quite a bit. I just got used to them after a while,"

Wally laughed a bit at the new information, "I guess that's true. You're the hero from the bedtime stories,"

"Not just me, Wally," Artemis pointed out with a smile, "You are too, now,"

* * *

**There we go! Chapter one of the hunt! This is the last you'll hear of Dick's history, did you put the pieces together? What do you think the possession culprit will be?**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	21. Police

**Here we go! I hope you all enjoy it, I don't have much to say so I'll just let you get reading!**

* * *

Wally readjusted the tie around his neck a bit nervously, his green eyes drifting around the station in search of the correct place to go. Artemis had never let him go to the station alone before; after all, blowing their illegal cover was the most tentative part of the job. Problems would never cease if they were wanted by the government. But she'd declared him capable and sent him off with the snap of a hairband after assisting him with his tie.

His mind was still a little stuck on the way her thin fingers had deftly fixed the accessory, her sharp eyes glinting with a hint of teasing as they'd worked together to dress him up. It was almost domestic, the way she'd pulled him in front of the mirror and made sure he'd tucked in his button up. Luckily his freckles managed to hide the blush decently well.

"Special Agent Lee Evans?" A detective spoke up, catching Wally's attention as the redhead meandered around the lobby.

"Yeah, that's me," Wally grinned, shaking the hand of the detective who returned it with a grim face.

"I'm Detective Bradley. I have to say I'm surprised the FBI is interested in our case," Bradley said, scrutinizing Wally's semi-casual dress.

"Well the FBI is interested in strange cases and this is definitely something we've never seen before," Wally deflected.

"That's true," The detective let out a slight laugh, "Come with me. I'll show you the files,"

Wally followed the man through a few cinder block hallways until they reached a conference room with a few men and women going over the papers strewn across the table. Bradley shooed them away and guided the redhead to the papers from the first case.

"There have been three victims?" Wally asked, picking up a picture of the first crime scene and frowning at the blood, a husband dead on the kitchen floor. Bradley handed him the testimony of the wife who was found at the scene.

"Six, if you count the suspected murderers," Bradley explained, "All of the suspects were found with the murdered victims, all evidence points to them, and yet none remember doing it and are genuinely traumatized by the events,"

"So the suspects were all very close to the victims," Wally mused, looking over the whiteboard that had been filled with the similarities between the crimes, "How do you know that they're all genuine?" He asked, turning back to the detective.

"I know," Bradley nodded with a sigh, "I didn't believe it either at first. But we've brought in the city's best psychologists, lie detectors, and researched into the relationships between the suspects and victims. There were no stressing factors to lead up to murder and the suspects truly are disturbed and shocked by what happened,"

"Did you notice anything strange about the crime scenes?" The redhead asked, once again perusing the pictures, "Have they been cleaned yet?"

"No, all crime scenes are still available to go over, only the blood has been disposed of and there are pictures of all blood placement," Bradley explained, "And all suspects are in custody if you wish to interview them,"

"Well you have got everything nice and tidy, haven't you?" Wally smiled, glad that all the elbow grease was out of the way, "Have you discovered any link between the victims,"

"We try to keep things organized," Bradley smirked, "And besides the coincidence of the situation there is nothing in common besides the fact that they all live in this city,"

"Alright, I think I have everything I need for now, I'll contact you when my partner, Special Agent Denise Parker, and I want to interview a suspect," Wally finished, taking the file copies that Detective Bradley had made for them, "Thank you very much for your cooperation, Detective," He smiled, outstretching his hand.

Bradley shook his hand and nodded professionally, "Thank you for your assistance,"

* * *

Wally opened the door to the motel room and he was certain that he had stepped into heaven.

"Welcome back, Wallace," Artemis said, only turning slightly in the chair to glance at him from the side of her glasses, a smirk on her lips.

"Is that a _hot pocket_?" He whispered, dropping his stuff on Artemis's bed and walking to the steaming plate sitting on top of the microwave, "You're an angel," He mumbled delightedly.

"It's a gift, congratulations on talking to the police alone without fucking up," She turned fully around to give her partner a raised eyebrow, "You _did _keep our cover?" Artemis checked.

Wally only nodded through a mouthful of hot pocket, his eyes closed his bliss. Artemis laughed and stood up, striding over to her bed to retrieve the papers.

"What did you find out?" She asked as she flipped through the pages, her glasses falling down her nose. Wally joined her, wiping one of his hands on his nice pants to get rid of the grease before pushing her glasses back up, Artemis just gave him a small smile.

"Demon or cursed object," Wally declared around a mouthful of food, "Probably not a vengeful spirit. There isn't enough of a connection between the victims,"

Artemis nodded and took the files back to her laptop, "I'll read these over; got any info that isn't in them?"

"We can interview the suspects from the scene and the scenes themselves," The redhead explained, licking his fingers clean, "Man I could go for another one of these," He mumbled.

"I know, check the microwave," Artemis quipped, nodding her head toward the table it sat on. Wally gasped and ran to it, opening the door to find a plate with another already-cooked hot pocket.

"You are the best _ever_," He laughed, excitedly biting into it. Artemis smiled and got back to the papers.

"Okay so I found something while you were gone," The blonde spoke up, pulling up a page on her computer, "I looked for anything strange that occurred just before the first murder,"

"And?" Wally asked, leaning his head back to speak with his mouth full without projecting anything. Artemis wrinkled her nose.

"_And_, there were three people that went missing the day before. Searches were made, no bodies were found and they didn't find any electronic leads either,"

"Oh," Wally sighed, sitting down on his bed, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Probably," The blonde pursed her lips, "I've heard of the system before but I've never seen it,"

"It's a system?" He frowned, "Are we both talking about demons?"

"Yes," Artemis nodded, "It's called a base-body possession. Demons chose someone as kind of a home base for while they're out of hell. But sometimes they'll possess someone specific for whatever reason, and their base-body will be locked up so that they can come back whenever they want."

"Why do demons have to be smart?" Wally groaned, finished with the second hot pocket, "How do we know it's not a cursed object?" He asked.

"We don't." Artemis responded, "We'll have to interview a suspect or two," She answered with her nose in the files, "But the three missing people didn't even know each other so it's pointing toward demons,"

"I'll get out the ice cream while you finish reading," Wally declared, heading toward the mini fridge.

"Don't loosen your tie," Artemis ordered, "And if you don't share I'll use up all the hot water,"

"You got it, Babe," Wally laughed.

* * *

"Are we doing bad cop, good cop?" Wally whispered, stopping Artemis before they entered the interrogation room, his eyes bright with a bit of excitement.

"_Evans_, really," The blonde snorted, emphasizing his fake name, "The guy is traumatized and he's already under arrest. I don't think he's gonna hide anything,"

Wally narrowed his eyes, thinking it through, "Right," He nodded, gesturing for Artemis to lead the way. Artemis smiled slightly and pushed the door open where their suspect was waiting, handcuffed, sitting at a table.

"Clayton Bronner," Artemis started, walking in with some files tucked under her arm. She and Wally sat down at the table across from him, "We're Special Agents Denise Parker and Lee Evans,"

The broad man across from them said nothing in response, his bloodshot eyes trained sadly down at the tabletop and his hands clasped together in his lap.

"We just want to ask you a few questions about what happened, is that alright?" Wally questioned, his voice sincere. Bronner just nodded slowly and the two hunters shared a pitying glance with each other.

"It was you sister, right?" Artemis asked him softly, the crime scene photos tucked safely away from the man's view.

"Mallory," Bronner answered quickly, his voice hoarse.

"Mallory," The blonde corrected.

"Are you here to ask if I killed her?" Bronner choked out, still not meeting either of their eyes.

"Whether you physically did it or not, we're certain you weren't in your right mind when you did it," Wally explained, glad that there weren't any cops watching and that they'd turned the recorder off.

It was at this statement that Bronner seemed genuinely responsive, "It wasn't me," He frowned for a moment, "I mean, it was like..." He shrunk back in his chair a bit, closing himself off once more, "No..."

"It doesn't matter how crazy it sounds," Artemis told him.

"We won't think you're insane," Wally added, catching Bronner's eye when the man finally looked up.

Bronner gave a deep sigh and rubbed at his eyes, a few fat tears falling behind his digits, "No one else was there," He told them, his voice raspy and strained, "I could _see_ my hands hurting her. I could _hear_ her screaming. But it wasn't _me_," Bronner's hands shook as he moved them to his hair, his eyes clenched shut, "I wanted it to stop. I didn't want to hurt her. It all happened so fast, and when Mallory stopped...when she stopped moving I was in control again,"

"Mr. Bronner," Artemis started, coaxing him out of his despair, "Do you remember...saying anything to Mallory? While you weren't in control," She clarified.

"I..." Bronner frowned.

"It's alright, take your time," Wally told him.

"Uh...I think so. I remember a voice," The man scowled in confusion, "A man's voice. It didn't sound like _me _though,"

Wally and Artemis glanced at each other before the blonde spoke, "Thank you very much Mr. Bronner," She said, "You've been a great help,"

Bronner just nodded as they left quietly, still stewing in his own confusion and guilt.

* * *

Wally was sitting at the computer contentedly typing away as Artemis was seated on the bed with her feet crossed, her nimble fingers working through her hair to create a braid.

"I can't find any history on cursed objects that made the possessed speak," Wally spoke up, catching the blonde's attention.

"I'm telling you Wally, it's demons for sure," Artemis sighed.

"We need to be sure or someone will get hurt later," Wally declared.

"But I'm sure. All the pieces lead up to demons, _not_a cursed object," The blonde pointed out, wrapping the end of her braid with a hairband and flipping it to rest along her back.

"Alright," Wally huffed, leaving his chair to sit down next to Artemis, picking up her new braid and turning it over in his hands a few times curiously, "So it's demons then. What do we do next? How do we find them?"

Artemis smirked and the redhead was pleased that she continued to let him play with her new braid, "They'll have to be hiding somewhere in the city, somewhere that they won't be noticed,"

"And?" Wally pressed on, "The city's kind of big,"

"There will be sulfur around where they are too, because they'll be around there a lot. So all we need to do is walk around the city in low population areas until we find sulfur," Artemis shrugged, meeting the redheads eyes since she knew what his reaction was going to be.

"Oh my Great-Grandmother," Wally groaned, throwing himself back into the pillows.

"Did you really just say that?" Artemis laughed, swatting him on the shoulder.

"You're going to give me more ground to cover, aren't you?" He pouted, tugging on her braid again.

Artemis shrugged, "Go where I tell you, don't look at the map, and you won't even know," She smirked.

"I knew it," Wally snorted with a laugh.

"It makes sense, you can run from place to place," She smiled, scooting off of the bed and rolling her shoulders as she headed toward her favorite jacket, "Get up Wally, we've got work to do,"

"Help me up," He moaned, stretching his arms out toward her.

Artemis rolled her eyes but relented, striding over and heaving him off of the bed. Wally laughed and used the momentum to spin the blonde around a few times.

"I'll vomit on you," The blonde snickered, freeing herself and jumping back over to the bed to toss a pillow at him that he dodged.

"_Really _Arty, we have work to do. Get your stuff together," Wally huffed with a smile.

He didn't dodge the next pillow.

* * *

**I totally made up the whole "Base body possession" term, although it is something that demons do in the show. So what do you guys think is going to happen next? Any ideas on where this is going?**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**_Love_, Veg**


	22. Preperations

**I am so extremely sorry that I didn't post this yesterday! It was on the list of things to do but I got distracted when my (recently aquired!) Boyfriend called me up and wanted to hang out! I can't even believe I was lucky enough to catch his attention! So I'm all over the place with joy and this slipped my mind and I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!**

* * *

Artemis had sent Wally off to the most likely places in the city, leaving the unlikely and closer places for herself. She thought briefly at first that it was rude, but Wally knew she was doing it and he was still going to get done nearly as fast as she was anyway. So the blonde swallowed the teaspoon of guilt and decided to keep working on the case when she'd gotten back before him. And what a case it had turned out to be.

_Demons._

She hadn't dealt with demons in over a year; luckily they weren't as common as other creatures. However, all hunters were familiar with them because of their famous standing in history and mythology all over the world.

After sneezing a few times from the dust collected between the pages of some of her research books, Artemis finally had the motel table covered; with every book open to devil's traps and demon weaknesses.

She pursed her lips and flipped through one particular book that she was more unfamiliar with. Their current truck had plenty of salt and iron stored away to handle them, but the quickest and easiest way to discover if someone was a demon was using holy water.

Which meant that she needed to get out the rosary.

* * *

With sixteen sketchy city blocks underneath his feet and his cheeks red from the wind, Wally was getting tired of checking for sulfur.

The redhead had never been up against a demon before, but Artemis had told him to check for the yellow substance in doorways, window sills, and behind large objects that could easily hide a person. Essentially, anywhere that the victims could have been abducted from. Once the demons had control, the minds of the victims were open books and the closest loved one would be chosen.

Wally had certainly found plenty of buildings that the demons could be using, but absolutely no sulfur was around and he was reaching the end of his search area. Anyone questioning him got the usual story of 'Artemis' his lost yellow cat. It was a simple story that he could easily keep up so long as he told them that Artemis was a touchy cat who would attack anyone except himself.

He was about to turn around and retrace the entire sixteen blocks, but _finally _he found what he was looking for. There, dusting across the window sill of a cracked and faded window, was the sulfur he needed.

The redhead kept walking until he was past the building, ensuring that he wasn't near any windows before scoping out the area. The whole street was deserted save for a few passersbys. A quick examination of the building itself left him with even more sulfur and the discovery that it was an abandoned apartment building, the higher windows boarded up.

Wally knew that he couldn't loiter around without catching attention, and he had no idea if the demons were currently around, so he started heading back with the good news. He briefly entertained the idea that Artemis might have some more food waiting for him, but ultimately he decided that it was a slim chance.

* * *

"What does this mean?" Artemis whispered to herself. She was sitting on Wally's bed in the motel room, multiple jugs of holy water littered across the floor. It had been an accident, but she certainly couldn't ignore it.

She turned the pendant over a few times, running her fingers along the formed metal and shimmering jewel, a smile crawling to her lips. It was the exact same necklace she'd admired at the fair, and there was only one explanation for how it had appeared in their things.

The little sneak had bought it for her when she wasn't paying attention.

Artemis wasn't entirely sure whether to be flattered or upset by his actions. He was just making it more and more difficult to keep at a friend's closeness. Guy friends didn't buy girl friends jewelry, did they? The blonde stopped in her thought process, she actually had no idea about that, her social interaction experience was rather limited and skewed.

She couldn't put it back where she found it because she had discovered it after hauling a pile of their hunting junk into the room, everything had shifted and she had no idea where it had originally been hiding. Confronting Wally about his little present was not high on her to-do list, but it was entirely unavoidable.

The motel door suddenly burst open and a wildly grinning redhead entered the room.

"I have found their hideout!" Wally declared proudly, closing the door firmly behind himself and sauntering over to the blonde. Artemis didn't say anything, rather, she just held her palm out for him to see the necklace in her hand, a small smirk on her face.

He stared at it for a few moments, his features nonplussed to see the familiar object. Then his thoughts came to him and he remembered that the necklace had been _hidden _from Artemis, and yet she was holding it.

"What?! How did you find that!?" Wally shrieked, grabbing the jewel and stuffing it in his pocket as his face grew red, "You didn't see anything," He declared.

Artemis laughed at his reaction, tugging on his hoodie sleeve to encourage him to sit on the edge of the bed with her, "Chill out, Wally. It was an accident,"

He reluctantly slumped down beside her, pulling the necklace out once more to glare at it, his nose wrinkled in dejection, "It was going to be your birthday present next month," Wally sighed, gently grabbing Artemis's hand and placing the trinket in her palm, "Happy birthday," He whispered sarcastically, making Artemis laugh again.

"It's great Wally, I really love it," The blonde smiled, unclipping it and pulling her ponytail to the side to put it on.

"Here, le'mme help," Wally mumbled, taking the small metal clasps out of her hands to assist her, brushing the fine hairs of her neck out of the way with a light touch and easily clasping the necklace. He smiled softly as Artemis looked down to admire it, her fingers still twirling the pendant a bit.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Artemis whispered, looking over to smile at her partner.

"Of course I did, you're turning twenty. That only happens once a lifetime, you know," He snickered, bumping her with his shoulder.

Artemis snorted and rolled her eyes, "You're so corny,"

"I'm from the midwest," Wally shrugged.

The blonde laughed once more and slapped him on the leg, "Alright, whatever. Where are the demons staying?"

Wally stood up and headed over to the map of the city that they had spread out across the motel table, grabbing a marker and circling the location he'd discovered, "I found sulfur all around this old apartment building. I don't know where they are inside, but they _are_inside there somewhere," He explained to the blonde who had come over to peek over his shoulder, her new necklace dangling down in front of her. Wally smiled proudly at the sight.

"I don't think it's safe to go barging in," Artemis frowned, "Our guess that there are only three demons could be off, and we would be fighting in their territory,"

"Which puts the odds in their favor," Wally agreed, nodding and glaring at the map, "What if we set up a trap and lure them in?" He suggested, pointing to the building next to the hideout.

"That could work," Artemis frowned in contemplation, "What did you have in mind?"

Wally picked up a different colored marker and circled the building he had pointed to before, "We could set up traps and weapons in this building. It's another abandoned apartment building. We lure them in, trap them, and exorcise them,"

"I've already got everything we need to fight them," Artemis gestured to the various objects that she'd carted into the motel room, "But how are we going to lure them in?"

The redhead sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a slight blush rising to his cheeks, "Well they seem to like making people hurt the ones they love, so all we need to do is catch their attention and make them think that we're in love,"

"We'll act like easy prey," Artemis sighed as well, crossing her arms in slight frustration, "Great, now we're both going to be bait,"

"No!" Wally retorted quickly, "No, It's going to be fine,"

The blonde smiled slightly, "I know, Wally. I trust that you won't throw me under the bus,"

When he didn't say anything Artemis frowned and set down the devils trap that she'd printed out for Wally's reference, "Have you called Dick yet?"

"What do you mean?" Wally dodged the question.

"It's been three weeks since Columbus; please tell me you aren't holding a grudge against one of your best friends?" Artemis's tone was one that Wally couldn't ignore so he ran a hand through his hair and sighed, leaning back against the table, "_Wally,_"

"No, I haven't called him," He grumbled.

"Why?" The blonde pestered.

"I don't know," Wally shrugged, "As punishment?" He offered meagerly.

Artemis smirked and headed over to grab one of the many jugs of holy water, planning to pour some into a flask for each of them, "You're calling him tomorrow,"

"Only if you can catch me," Wally grinned playfully.

"Check that the salt isn't damp, Speedy," Artemis laughed.

"My name isn't Speedy," He grumbled, flicking her ponytail lightly as he passed her.

* * *

"Careful, we don't want to be seen by the demons," Artemis whispered with her arms full of various demon-fighting objects.

"I know, Babe," Wally whispered back, checking around the corner of the fence before leading the way into the side entrance of the building next door to the hideout. They used the entrance farthest from the demon's headquarters but it was still risky.

Wally quickly found the way through the hallways to a decent apartment that was close to the entrance that they had planned to lure the demons through. The apartment was a small one-person studio, with some roughed up furniture covered in plastic sheets.

"Alright," Artemis started as the two hunters dumped their collection of junk in the middle of the living room, "I'll line the bathroom with glue and salt. It can be the safe room," She declared, grabbing the bottle of glue and two containers of salt before marching off to the bathroom that neither of them would dare use had it been the last choice on earth.

"I'll hide some iron weapons under the furniture, when you're done I can show you where everything is," Wally said, looking around the room for the best places to hide what they needed.

It took Artemis longer to deal with the mess that the glue and salt created, so when Wally finished hiding their weapons he grabbed the collection of devil trap references and black spray paint. After finding a decently sturdy chair the redhead put three devils traps on the ceiling where the dirt was the darkest, ensuring that they were hidden as best as possible.

"I'm ready for the tour," Artemis announced, stepping back into the main room where Wally was just getting of the chair. The redhead stepped over to her and narrowed his eyes, staring at her face, "What?" She frowned, drawing a hand up to touch her head.

Wally laughed and gently grabbed her wrist before she could smear it, "You've got glue on your face," He said, licking his thumb before rubbing the substance off of her cheek.

The blonde wrinkled her nose and leaned away from him, "Gross, Wally, did you have to use your saliva?" She asked, the tone of laughter bubbling in her throat as she playfully hit his hand away, rubbing her cheek with her sleeve.

"Oh it was totally necessary," Wally assured her with a grin as he led her to the closest hiding spot of a weapon, "And here is the location of crowbar number one," He gestured underneath a couch, "A fire poker can be found at the other end for your convenience,"

"Got it," Artemis nodded, smirking at his exaggerated grandeur.

Wally took her around the apartment with the faux speech of a salesman, noting the location of each iron weapon and tool that they'd brought along for use. He'd placed them strategically so that there were more weapons located in the bedroom, since that was the area that they would be acting in as the demons were lured through the apartment.

"Can you find the traps?" Wally asked her, dropping his hands nonchalantly in his pockets and taking a step back to let her look.

Artemis smiled and tipped her head back to scan the ceiling, squinting her eyes to try and catch the faint light from the streetlights that poured in through the cracks in the boarded windows, "There's one there," She pointed at the trap drawn a few feet from the front door, "And there's one near the bedroom..." The blonde frowned, still searching for any more.

Wally stepped up behind her and held her shoulders, turning her in the right direction slowly.

"In the corner?" She questioned, glancing around to give him a skeptical look, "What good will that do?"

"Hey," Wally shrugged with a laugh, "Why not?"

"You're ridiculous," Artemis said, sauntering over to the metal bed frame and old mattress, "Now help me move this so that we can put one under here,"

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**I know this chapter wasn't that exciting, but believe me you'll want this domestic-ness back once we get to the next one! Savor this while you can...**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**Love, Veg**


	23. Complications

**I'll just leave you all to this now...**

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"You ready to put on a show?" Wally whispered, a bit of hesitation in his voice.

Artemis felt her muscles tense as she nodded, her sharp eyes glancing around the corner to see if there was any movement on the street. The two had snuck around the back road behind the buildings until they found their way to the end of the street, ensuring that the demons inside would have plenty of time to hear them coming down the street before they lured them into their trap.

"Channel your inner girly girl, Arty," The redhead teased as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out to the sidewalk. They were two buildings away from the hideout, so they had to be loud and obnoxious.

Artemis started it with a loud giggle, her arm wrapped securely around Wally's torso as they walked. The laughter that he belted out in response was entirely genuine and Artemis was glad he couldn't comment on how strange it sounded to hear from her. Instead he slung his arm around her shoulders and leaned in to kiss her on her temple with a loud smack.

"Oh, _Babe_," Artemis crooned, making Wally snicker in her ear, "Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere _Off-limits_," The redhead play-whispered, tickling her sides so that she let out an exaggerated squeal that he really wished he'd gotten a recording off.

"Sounds _exciting_," Artemis grinned, pressing herself farther into his side.

Wally gave her a warning glance before he suddenly spinned her around and pressed her against the brick wall of the demon's hideout apartments, his arms locked around her and his head ducked into the crook of her neck.

Artemis froze momentarily before she settled into the situation, loosening her muscles and relaxing into his tentative touch. He was close enough to give the right impression, but his hands which had slid to her waist had a light enough grip to allow her freedom. She fought quickly with her mind to retain the mental focus on their mission, and not the way he was breathing against her neck, pressing overly-loud kisses that echoed around the empty street.

She curled her hands around his neck and let out a few giggles, hoping that their bait was working because she did _not _want to do this again.

"Babe, let's get out of here," Artemis said, making her voice loud enough to reach someone else's ears, "Where's that place?"

Wally let out a loud groan and for a second all of Artemis's nerves shook, her focus wavering and her hands unconsciously clenching into the curling red hair at his neck. But then, in the corner of her eye, she caught just a shadow of movement, "It's right next door, Babe," Wally spoke up, pulling away from the wall and tugging her along close to his side, "You're gonna love it; super creepy,"

Artemis let out a laugh and pretended to look around nervously before she followed him into the building, well aware of the sliver of movement that was slowly following them. Neither dared to break the act as they made their way to the apartment, however, so the affectionate touches and laughs continued.

"In here," Wally said, pushing open the door and leading Artemis to the ratty old bed across the apartment.

"This _is _creepy," Artemis giggled; the sound still strange to both of their ears. She let Wally scoop her up and dip her onto the bed, the two intertwining as best they could without any real contact.

Wally snuck a hand underneath the bed frame while Artemis began groaning to cover the clink of the iron as he pulled out two short handled shovels. The blonde reaching into Wally's jacket to grab a couple flasks of holy water.

The door banged against the far wall as the room was suddenly rushed. Three men enter and a moment later Wally and Artemis moved. The first demon ran right into the closest trap as the two hunters were leaping to their feet, shovels at the ready.

"Hunters!" The first demon snarled, furious that he'd been caught. The other two didn't pause for a second and continued on toward the hunters, their features turning to rage as they swerved around the devil's trap. The first demon, stuck, focused his limited telekinesis to try and find a way to break the trap on the ceiling.

Wally met the demon closest to him halfway across the room, his speed even greater than that of the creature. The demon looked shocked when the redhead revealed his trick, unable to dodge the swing of the shovel because of the unexpected speed. He snarled and rubbed at the bright red burn mark that the shovel left behind, leaping up almost instantly to attack him once more.

Artemis used her agility to dodge the attack, tipping her weight to the side and thrusting out her shovel to catch the demon's elbow as he ran. The move was effective enough and when the creature stumbled she swiveled the weapon around to ram it into his back, attempting to push him toward the devil's trap in the corner of the room.

The hand to hand combat continued with parries and blows as each tried to overpower the other. The demons attempting to maim while the two hunters worked to catch each of their charges in a trap. The push and pull was relatively even and the one player who could even the board was paused in concentration near the door. He had his energy pressing into the ceiling of the old apartment, though the energy was largely limited by the devil's trap itself. It would have been a simple task without the trap, but it was the only choice the demon had. All he needed was a small crack in the ceiling where the spray paint circle was, even that was enough to free him.

At first the ceiling only shook, a tremor of movement that caught no one's attention. But then the material gave way to the demon's force, creating a large crack across the distance that split the devil's trap in two. The demon was free and his first action brought him straight towards Artemis, the closest target.

The blonde shouted in surprise when the man rushed her, having already been engaged in battle with a different demon. The quick movement of the previously trapped demon caught her off guard and he ripped the shovel from her hands, holding onto the wooden shaft so that he didn't touch the iron spade and handle. He whipped the shovel around using his enhanced demonic speed and hit Artemis across the face, knocking her to the floor with a gasp.

"Artemis!" Wally screamed, the redhead stuck in combat with the third demon.

"Hold her down!" The first demon ordered brusquely.

"Get away from her!" Wally roared, losing his concentration and taking a hard hit to his torso.

A demon had pinned Artemis to the floor before she could regain her focus from the hit; the blonde thrashing and attempting to toss him off, "Watch yourself!" She hissed at the redhead across the room.

Her warning was in vain. With the first demon free-handed once more it became two against one, and Wally's mind was unfocused on his own safety.

"Got 'em," The demon chuckled, having trapped Wally in a choking hold; with his elbows constrained backwards by one arm and the other wrapped around his throat. The redhead struggled but the hold was too effective.

"Well, well, well," The first demon laughed, pausing between his two prisoners to survey their capture, "Looks like we've caught ourselves some hunters," He gave a lengthy pause, allowing the two hunters to glance at each other.

"What should we do with them?" The demon holding Artemis down asked, though the blonde could hear in his voice that it was a rhetorical question.

She locked her eyes with Wally's, reading the guilt in them that she knew he shouldn't have. They had prepared as best they could, but demons didn't often work in groups and given the time they'd had to perfect their act, she should have known they'd be overpowered. Artemis blamed herself for misreading the odds, for going down first, for dragging this wonderful man into such a dangerous life.

_What had she been thinking?_

"We can't possess them," The demon holding Wally spoke up with a frown, "They've got marks, I can feel it,"

Wally felt his heart drop at the demon's words, understanding immediately what they planned to do. Of course, he felt like he should have figured it out before. The demons had been terrorizing people by possessing one person and having them kill someone they loved. His throat constricted as he considered the options of what was going to occur. _Yes_, they had the anti-possession tattoos; Artemis had been adamant. But they weren't foolproof. His mind whirled; either he was going to be forced to kill Artemis, or she was going to be forced to kill him. Wally wasn't sure which was worse.

"We'll just have to find them and destroy them then," The demon in charge responded, stomping over to the redhead and scrutinizing him.

If he was forced to kill Artemis, Wally was sure he would never be able to live with himself. The idea of it made him feel queasy, and it was worse to think that the demons would let him survive afterwards. To live the rest of his life without her. He couldn't even imagine it.

But if Artemis was forced to kill him. He could never wish that sort of pain on her. Wally was well aware of her tough act, the way she attempted to keep everyone at a safe distance. Wally was also aware that whether she liked it or not, he was one of her closest friends. The guilt and shame of being unable to stop his death, he almost wished that she wouldn't have to deal with that.

However, the alternative would kill her.

The demon was roughing him up; searching his skin for the possession tattoo that he knew was there. Wally resisted as best he could but he already knew it was useless, he kept his eyes trained on Artemis's hoping he could best convey what he was feeling. That no matter what happened, it wasn't her fault. He could never blame her. Because Wally knew that if he died, it would be her first thoughts.

"Found it!" The demon cheered, holding up Wally's shirt sleeve to reveal the anti-possession tattoo on his upper arm, "Now, let's get that out of the way, shall we?" He declared, pulling a hunting knife out of his holster before turning to glance at Artemis, "Then we'll find yours and deal with you," He laughed.

"You son of a bitch!" Artemis growled, struggling underneath the weight of the man above her. All of her muscles strained themselves as she watched him bring the knife to Wally's skin, the redhead flinching. The demon cut him efficiently, one deep cut down the middle of the tattoo, splitting the skin so that the seal was no longer effective. Wally cussed loudly and Artemis felt her heart speed up in worry, the wound was deep and quite a bit of blood had begun running down his arm.

Abruptly, the little light in the room began flicker and the walls began to shake; pieces of the cracked ceiling began to crumble and Artemis closed her eyes on instinct to keep them out. She couldn't see, but she could hear the demons begin to panic, their voices raised in confusion. Wally yelled and she opened her eyes to search for him.

The lights returned and the demons tensed, retracting from Wally's form. She heard the demon above her mutter, "_Neron..._" before he let her go in order to try and run, but suddenly Wally's arm spread out and the door to the apartment shut loudly. The blonde shakily stood up, watching her partner with wide eyes.

Because she knew instantly that it wasn't Wally any longer.

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**Sooooo...Do you hate me? Do you know what has happened? I left a clue as to what just occurred but just in case you don't get it...Don't get your hopes up just yet that the action is all over. **

**Please review and let me know what you think!**

**This weekend: THE LAST CHAPTER. **

**_Love_, Veg**


	24. Together

**THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER. I AM SO UNBELIEVABLY IN LOVE WITH ALL OF YOU READERS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FOLLOWING THIS TO THE END. **

**Before you start! I just really want all of you to know (not in capslock so that you know I'm being serious) that I really appreciate all of the love you have given me through this whole story. It's really kept me inspired to keep up with this rigid posting schedule. So here we go, the last chapter of The Spark in the Unknown!**

* * *

"Neron!" One of the demon's cried, still searching with the others for a way out. Artemis moved toward the edge of the situation, grabbing a crowbar from under the dresser and hoping that she could reach the safe-zone she'd set up in the bathroom if she needed too, but knowing that she couldn't leave the room with Wally possessed. In control or not, she refused to leave him.

"You disobeyed orders," Wally spoke, his tone without the kind or passionate inflections Artemis was used to. It was monotone, and his posture was menacing, "You were here to collect souls, not to play around,"

Neron didn't even give the demons a chance to explain; instead lifting Wally's hand toward them. All three opened their mouths, deep black smoke billowing out as the demons were sent back to hell. The bodies dropped and Artemis could see blood dripping out of their mouths. She wondered if they had survived the prolonged possession.

"You must be Artemis," Neron smirked, turning to the woman half hidden behind the turn in the wall that became the bedroom. She stepped out to face him from across the room, hating him for stealing Wally. For speaking in his voice and staring at her with his eyes.

"Get out of him," She ordered, her grip on the crowbar tightening.

"I've heard of you, Artemis," Neron continued, "You are one of the daughters of Minoson,"

"I am a daughter of Lawrence and Paula Crock," Artemis corrected with fervor, her composure momentarily shattered by the mention of the demon that possessed her father.

"You sent him back to hell," The demon's voice was dark, he blinked and for a second Wally's wonderful green eyes were entirely red, no pupil, no white surrounding. Just red. Her chest tightened as he revealed himself to her. He was a crossroads demon, and thus even more dangerous.

"It's where he belongs," The blonde countered.

Neron took a step toward her, Artemis took a step backward.

"The boy's still in here, you know," He spoke with a tone of casual conversation, "Do you want to know anything? His mind is an open book,"

Artemis pursed her lips, her heart hammering in her chest as she willed herself to find a way to save Wally.

"He's yelling right now, _really_ annoying," Neron rolled his eyes, "Yammering _on_ _and on_ that I shouldn't hurt you,"

"He's pretty smart," The blonde smirked, feeling a little heartened that Wally was still fighting.

"He's pretty lovesick," Neron informed her, wrinkling Wally's nose in disgust and taking another step toward her, "It's pretty gross. He'd rather I hurt _him_ than hurt _you_!" Neron let out a short laugh.

Artemis said nothing, her muscles strained as she attempted to stay as responsive as possible, attempted to stay focused. She tried not to think about what Wally was trying to do, tried not to let it get to her.

"Oh," He smirked, raising an eyebrow as he watched the blonde, "Oh but that's not good, is it?" His face, _Wally's face_, morphed into one of grand annoyance, "Because you _care_ about him; so you would rather I hurt _you_ and leave _him_ alone," Neron glared at her, "Isn't that right," He spoke slowly.

Artemis slowed her breathing before trying to speak, "Let him go," She said forcefully, all of her anger seeping into her words, her frustration causing her hands to shake.

"Humans," He muttered, shaking his head slowly.

Then he rushed her. Artemis could have resisted, she knew that she had the ability. Months of training in motel rooms with Wally had her reaction time better than most hunters in the country; but in the split second that Neron took to overpower her all she saw was _Wally_. It was Wally's face and Wally's hands and Wally's body, and the crowbar in her hand could have made contact but it would have been _Wally's_ head. So she hesitated, and it left her pinned to the wall, the crowbar dropping loudly to the floor and her hands held painfully to her sides.

Artemis coughed from the force of the blow, her breath knocked out of her.

"I _hate_ you damn creatures," Neron growled, his voice low, creating a tone that Wally had _never _used before, "Don't _any_ of you lot have a sense of self-preservation!?"

The blonde lifted her head to meet his eyes, eyes full of hate that she could finally disassociate with Wally's own caring gaze, "I would rather _die_ in love, than live the rest of my life _alone_,"

Neron let out a sound of frustration and pulled his hand back to hit her, releasing one of her wrists. Artemis wasted no time slipping her hand into her jacket and grabbing a flask of holy water. She only needed to thumb open the flip cap before Wally's voice was suddenly screaming in pain, his hands grabbing his face as steam arose from where the splash of holy water landed.

Artemis didn't wait to execute her next move, and it didn't take much. She grabbed Wally's shoulders and pushed him backward, guiding him while he was still uselessly in pain to the devil's trap in the corner of the room. She stopped when he was trapped, stepping back and let out a breath of relief. It was only words now.

Neron grit his teeth and shook his head, shaking off the last of the lingering pain brought on by the holy water, "The boy wants you to run now," He laughed, looking up to glare at Artemis, "He doesn't like what I plan to do to you,"

"_Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus_," Artemis started, meeting the demon's glare with one of her own. Neron growled and raced at her, his arms reaching out to grab her throat.

But he was forced to stop.

"_omnis satanica potestas_," She continued, "_omnis incursio infernalis adversarii,_"

"You _bitch_!" Neron roared in Wally's voice, looking down as he began to convulse.

"omnis legio," Artemis stated firmly. Suddenly Neron let out a laugh and pulled one of Wally's knives out of his jean pockets. The blonde's eyes widened, realizing immediately what he planned to do, "_omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica!_" She recited faster, stepping forward slightly in anxiousness.

"You won't be winning today," Neron smirked, placing the knife against the skin of Wally's arm, "What do you think, slow and painful?" His voice was twisted out of pride; there was no way to stop him.

Artemis froze, the rest of the exorcism stumbling at the back of her throat. She'd had years to dream of this exact situation, years of dreaming up ways to stop this from happening. But none of them were ever good enough, she'd never thought of one way to make it work. Neron had appeared to stop, enjoying the power he had over her as the knife was resting against Wally's skin.

And in a split second decision, Artemis went with her instinct, went against all protocol that she'd learned from the many other hunters out there. Because this was _Wally_, and she'd be damned if she'd let someone take him from her.

So she jumped on him.

Neron looked genuinely surprised when Artemis was suddenly tackling him, but he still managed to slice her across her chest and shoulder as they were falling backwards. With the combination of Wally's physique and the demon's powers, Neron was much stronger than the blonde. However Artemis had pure rage and determination on her side as she wrestled him, having knocked the knife out of his hand when they'd hit the ground.

"_Ergo, draco maledicte_!" She yelled between grunts as they rolled, her hands fighting to keep him from hurting Wally or wrapping around her throat. It was all she needed to do, and that was what was giving her the upper hand.

"DAMN BITCH!" Neron screamed, his arms and legs scrambling to disable the blonde before she could finish.

"_Ecclesiam tuam securi!_" Artemis kicked his legs back as he attempted to pin her down, "_tibi facias libertate servire_!"

Neron was trying to reach any of Wally's other weapons in a last resort; but Artemis had gained focus while Neron was losing control and she knew where Wally kept his knives so she could easily think ahead of him. Neron grew even more frustrated. His actions became instinctive and impulsive as he desperately tried to keep her from saying the last line, anything to attack her lungs or throat, his hands trying to cover her mouth. If she managed to send him back to hell, it was not only a personal loss, but a loss of pride as well. The higher demons kept track of who was bested by hunters and reputations were held up by successes.

"te rogamus, audi nos!" Artemis yelled.

Neron gave a loud angry scream before he was pulled from Wally's body, the black smoke pouring out and leaving the room through a window, blocking the light for a moment.

Wally's body slumped back against the floor and Artemis scrambled to collect him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and head to place her ear by his mouth, straining to hear him over her own heavy breathing. She let out a sigh of relief when she heard him. His breaths were steady and slow, and the fingers at his neck told her that his heartbeat was normal as well.

"Wally?" She whispered, drawing her fingers across his cheek to try and wake him, her own heart beating wildly in her chest.

The muscles of his face began moving under the skin, slight movements that Artemis only noticed because she was watching so carefully.

"_Wally?_" The blonde tried again, a bit more hope drifting into her tone.

His mouth opened first, letting out a groan, before his eyes slowly opened, blinking into focus, "_Artemis,_" Wally said softly, a smile coming to his face, "Hey,"

"Hey yourself," Artemis smirked, her hand drifting upward to push back some of his hair, if only to touch him and ensure herself that he was back. She felt her eyes get watery and she blinked to try and keep it away.

Wally moved his limbs slightly and let out another groan, "Man, that hurts," He frowned, dropping his head back into Artemis's careful hold. He looked up at her once more, "That was reckless," He declared, frustration clear in his tone.

"I know," The blonde responded, her shoulders shaking slightly as her voice wavered. She closed her eyes for a moment but couldn't keep her tears away, "I thought I was going to lose you," She whispered hoarsely, "It was just like-" Her throat closed up and suddenly Wally's arms were around her, pulling her close against his chest, his limbs stiff in his movements as he continued regaining his muscle control.

"I'm not going anywhere, Babe," He said, pressing kisses against her temple as a few hot tears ran down her cheeks, "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried"

Artemis let out a short laugh and buried her head into the crook of his neck, enjoying the comfort of his arms. She mumbled something unintelligible and Wally shifted his hold, noticing that she had suddenly grown tense.

"Sorry?" He asked, tilting his head down to try and hear her better. The blonde pulled back, looking down at the floor with a bit of shock to her features. Wally laughed and ran a hand through her ponytail to calm her down, pressing another kiss to her forehead for good measure. She melted against his touch and her features relaxed once more.

Artemis turned her head up to meet Wally's eyes, a smile on her lips as she spoke up clearly, "_I love you,_"

At these three words Wally's face lit up in a wide grin, "I love you too," He said; and with the ease that he'd spoken them Artemis knew that he'd been practicing for a long while. Her iron heart fluttered and she smiled even more when he leaned down to press his forehead against her own, his breath lingering over her lips, "I should have done this a long time ago," Wally spoke quietly, keeping the world at bay as he held her close.

"I would have killed you," Artemis smirked, leaning in to brush her lips lightly across his, her hands, previously bunched up in his shirt, snaked their way up to his wild red hair.

"Yeah, you would have," Wally laughed, pressing forward to meet her in a grand kiss. They had kissed before, but the redhead was shocked to find that the moment they drew together it was entirely different. Before; they had clashed together, with nothing but necessity and slight lust pulling them together. It had been completely enjoyable, but nothing compared to the way they had just melded.

His skin was warm and she responded to every touch, tilting her head into the palm of his hand as he held her jaw, and leaning into his lips as her mind escaped her. There was only Wally and she couldn't have been any happier.

Artemis felt as if she could have kissed him forever, but the moment his hand moved to her shoulder it had to end.

"Are you bleeding?" Wally asked, breathless from their kiss as he pulled his hand back to stare at the wound she had collected when she'd tackled Neron.

"I'm fine," Artemis responded with a small laugh, "You're bleeding too, you know," She nodded toward the gash in his arm. Wally wrinkled his nose and stood up, pulling the blonde with him.

"C'mon Babe, let's head back to the motel," He smiled, grabbing a quick kiss, "Hey, wait," Wally paused, frowning as he thought of something.

"What?" The blonde paused, having begun picking up their discarded tools and weapons, the darkness of the apartment hiding the fading blush on her cheeks.

"Am I your boyfriend now?" Wally asked, his hand scratching nervously at the back of his head.

Artemis crossed her arms with a smile, watching him fondly, "You're my everything, Wally," She told him, her voice steady and confident.

Wally crossed the room in two steps, scooping her up in his arms as his familiar grin spread across his face once more, "You're my everything too, Artemis. You're my partner, my best friend, and my love. You're the greatest thing that has ever happened to me,"

And at that point, it didn't matter what they did for a living. Hunting monsters, saving lives, it took second to what had truly become important to them, what they had found.

Being together.

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**THE END. **

**So what did you think? Please review and let me know, whether it's to tell me what you think of the entire story or just this chapter/the ending. **

**ALSO Some notes: **

_**-Yes, I am aware that there were some characters and ideas that I didn't use (Oliver, Jade, etc.) I purposfully left those out in case I at some point want to write a sequel. Don't expect one soon, I need a break! But it's definately something that I have already been considering. **_

_**-For all of you wanting some smut to go along with this story: YOU WILL NOT BE DENIED. I am already working on some as "Bonus Epilogue Smut" which I hope to have posted within a week at the latest. **_

_**-The "Bonus Epilogue Smut" will NOT be posted on this story. I really want to keep this story at a T rating so I'll be posting as a new story under this same ffnet account. Once it is posted I will likely add another chapter on here as an authors note to lead anyone who wishes to read it to where they can find it. **_

_**-SO. When/if you get a little notice that says I posted another chapter: IT WILL BE AN AUTHORS NOTE. This authors note will be letting everyone know that there will be bonus smut on my account. I just wanted to clear all of that up for everyone before somebody gets confused. **_

**Thank you again for reading my story! It's been so much fun writing this and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I have! **

**_Love_, Veg**


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